Armenians seek Democrats assistance
11/20/2006
Whittier, CA
New Congress to be asked to recognize alleged genocide
By Fred Ortega Staff Writer
LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - Setrak Sheytanian died long ago, the victim of a mass killing spree that many consider the first true genocide of the 20th century.
For decades his family tried in vain to collect on his life insurance policy, issued by New York Life nearly 100 years ago in Eastern Anatolia, modern-day Turkey. They finally prevailed last year, capitalizing on a California law that allows heirs of Armenians killed by the Ottoman Turks during World War I to sue for unpaid insurance claims.
No such law exists at the federal level, partly because Washington has never said the mass killings perpetrated against the Armenians constituted genocide. But that stance may soon change because of the shift in power on Capitol Hill.
"We now have a speaker-elect who supports recognizing the Armenian genocide," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, who along with San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi has co-sponsored legislation that would officially label the killings as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Turks. "That is a tremendous ally to have."
The legislation, along with a similar bill sponsored by Schiff, was moved forward last year by the House International Relations Committee. Neither of the bills ever made it to the House floor because of strong opposition from other members of Congress, including outgoing Speaker Dennis Hastert.
But the stalled legislation has suddenly been infused with new life, with Pelosi at the helm of a new, Democrat-controlled Congress.
"Ms. Pelosi has pledged to support the resolution again in the 110th Congress," said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for the San Francisco congresswoman. However, no resolutions on Armenia are included in Pelosi's list of top priorities for the first 100 days of the new Congress, he added.
Armenians contend that up to 1.5 million of their countrymen died at the hands of the Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1923.
An official government recognition of the Armenian killings is long overdue, said Martin Marutian, Sheytanian's nephew.
"It is very important because we are recognizing genocides in Africa, the Nazi Holocaust, but not the Armenian genocide, which was the first one," said Marutian, 91, of La Ca ada Flintridge. "Newspapers, including the New York Times, wrote about the genocide at the time. But it seems like today the U.S. and Turkey have amnesia."
Marutian recounted the story of his uncle, who he said was killed along with his wife and two small children when the Turks stormed their small town of Kharpet in 1915. Marutian's mother had left Turkey a year earlier for the United States to join her husband, and Sheytanian had given her his policy to take with her.
For years, New York Life ignored the policy. But last year, a group of lawyers - including high-profile attorney Mark Geragos - reached a
$20 million settlement with the company on behalf of scores Armenian families, including the Marutians.
Geragos said federal recognition of the Armenian genocide might open the way for similar suits over claims outside of California.
"Hypothetically, if it were to happen federally, there are a number of legal options that could open up," said Geragos, who has also recovered $17 million for claimants from European insurance giant AXA. He linked the AXA settlement with the recent action by the French Parliament to formally recognize an Armenian genocide.
Geragos, who is of Armenian descent, also believes that federal recognition of a genocide could eventually lead to the United States acting as a mediator between Turkey and Armenia on the issue of land and monetary reparations.
But others doubt that federal recognition of a genocide would lead to any substantial results, let alone an about-face by Turkey on the issue. Vartkes Yeghiayan, another of the lawyers in the New York Life case, believes passage of the Schiff and Pelosi resolution would be primarily symbolic.
"The House of Representatives passed resolutions in 1974 and 1985 on the genocide and President Reagan mentioned the genocide in 1981. And what happened? Nothing," Yeghiayan said. "The important thing is for Turkey to recognize the genocide. I don't care who else in the world recognizes it."
And even with Democrats in control of Congress, any Armenian genocide resolution could still face considerable opposition.
"We intend to move very quickly on this in the new session, but I don't want to minimize the difficulty we face," said Schiff, who as a state senator authored the legislation used by Geragos to sue New York Life. "The Bush administration has opposed recognition, many in Congress are fighting it and Turkey has some of the best paid lobbyists available."
A spokesman for Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ill., a leading opponent of genocide recognition, said the GOP congressman is against the legislation because it would only embarrass Turkey and could lead to a souring of relations with the secular Muslim nation.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus repeated the position of President Bush, who earlier this year referred to the actions against the Armenians in Turkey as "mass killings," but stopped short of calling them genocide.
Any Armenian genocide resolution would certainly lead to repercussions from Turkey, said Tuluy Tanc, spokesman for the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
"The U.S. is an important friend and ally of Turkey, we have a strategic partnership, and such action would be contradictory to that partnership," said Tanc, whose nation has been a key U.S. ally in battling terrorism. "We don't think a legislative body like Congress should express an opinion on such a debatable and controversial issue."
Turkey cut off military relations with France after that country recognized the deaths as genocide, although it admits that hundreds of thousands of Armenians died when the Ottoman Empire forced them to relocate from Eastern Anatolia during World War I. Tanc said the move was a necessity during a time of war, when many of Turkey's Armenian citizens sided with the invading Russian Army.
"We believe that the intent of the Ottoman government to hurt Armenians on the basis of their ethnicity has not been proven," Tanc said.
fred.ortega@sgvn.com
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2306
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
Whittier, CA
New Congress to be asked to recognize alleged genocide
By Fred Ortega Staff Writer
LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - Setrak Sheytanian died long ago, the victim of a mass killing spree that many consider the first true genocide of the 20th century.
For decades his family tried in vain to collect on his life insurance policy, issued by New York Life nearly 100 years ago in Eastern Anatolia, modern-day Turkey. They finally prevailed last year, capitalizing on a California law that allows heirs of Armenians killed by the Ottoman Turks during World War I to sue for unpaid insurance claims.
No such law exists at the federal level, partly because Washington has never said the mass killings perpetrated against the Armenians constituted genocide. But that stance may soon change because of the shift in power on Capitol Hill.
"We now have a speaker-elect who supports recognizing the Armenian genocide," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, who along with San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi has co-sponsored legislation that would officially label the killings as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Turks. "That is a tremendous ally to have."
The legislation, along with a similar bill sponsored by Schiff, was moved forward last year by the House International Relations Committee. Neither of the bills ever made it to the House floor because of strong opposition from other members of Congress, including outgoing Speaker Dennis Hastert.
But the stalled legislation has suddenly been infused with new life, with Pelosi at the helm of a new, Democrat-controlled Congress.
"Ms. Pelosi has pledged to support the resolution again in the 110th Congress," said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for the San Francisco congresswoman. However, no resolutions on Armenia are included in Pelosi's list of top priorities for the first 100 days of the new Congress, he added.
Armenians contend that up to 1.5 million of their countrymen died at the hands of the Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1923.
An official government recognition of the Armenian killings is long overdue, said Martin Marutian, Sheytanian's nephew.
"It is very important because we are recognizing genocides in Africa, the Nazi Holocaust, but not the Armenian genocide, which was the first one," said Marutian, 91, of La Ca ada Flintridge. "Newspapers, including the New York Times, wrote about the genocide at the time. But it seems like today the U.S. and Turkey have amnesia."
Marutian recounted the story of his uncle, who he said was killed along with his wife and two small children when the Turks stormed their small town of Kharpet in 1915. Marutian's mother had left Turkey a year earlier for the United States to join her husband, and Sheytanian had given her his policy to take with her.
For years, New York Life ignored the policy. But last year, a group of lawyers - including high-profile attorney Mark Geragos - reached a
$20 million settlement with the company on behalf of scores Armenian families, including the Marutians.
Geragos said federal recognition of the Armenian genocide might open the way for similar suits over claims outside of California.
"Hypothetically, if it were to happen federally, there are a number of legal options that could open up," said Geragos, who has also recovered $17 million for claimants from European insurance giant AXA. He linked the AXA settlement with the recent action by the French Parliament to formally recognize an Armenian genocide.
Geragos, who is of Armenian descent, also believes that federal recognition of a genocide could eventually lead to the United States acting as a mediator between Turkey and Armenia on the issue of land and monetary reparations.
But others doubt that federal recognition of a genocide would lead to any substantial results, let alone an about-face by Turkey on the issue. Vartkes Yeghiayan, another of the lawyers in the New York Life case, believes passage of the Schiff and Pelosi resolution would be primarily symbolic.
"The House of Representatives passed resolutions in 1974 and 1985 on the genocide and President Reagan mentioned the genocide in 1981. And what happened? Nothing," Yeghiayan said. "The important thing is for Turkey to recognize the genocide. I don't care who else in the world recognizes it."
And even with Democrats in control of Congress, any Armenian genocide resolution could still face considerable opposition.
"We intend to move very quickly on this in the new session, but I don't want to minimize the difficulty we face," said Schiff, who as a state senator authored the legislation used by Geragos to sue New York Life. "The Bush administration has opposed recognition, many in Congress are fighting it and Turkey has some of the best paid lobbyists available."
A spokesman for Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ill., a leading opponent of genocide recognition, said the GOP congressman is against the legislation because it would only embarrass Turkey and could lead to a souring of relations with the secular Muslim nation.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus repeated the position of President Bush, who earlier this year referred to the actions against the Armenians in Turkey as "mass killings," but stopped short of calling them genocide.
Any Armenian genocide resolution would certainly lead to repercussions from Turkey, said Tuluy Tanc, spokesman for the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
"The U.S. is an important friend and ally of Turkey, we have a strategic partnership, and such action would be contradictory to that partnership," said Tanc, whose nation has been a key U.S. ally in battling terrorism. "We don't think a legislative body like Congress should express an opinion on such a debatable and controversial issue."
Turkey cut off military relations with France after that country recognized the deaths as genocide, although it admits that hundreds of thousands of Armenians died when the Ottoman Empire forced them to relocate from Eastern Anatolia during World War I. Tanc said the move was a necessity during a time of war, when many of Turkey's Armenian citizens sided with the invading Russian Army.
"We believe that the intent of the Ottoman government to hurt Armenians on the basis of their ethnicity has not been proven," Tanc said.
fred.ortega@sgvn.com
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2306
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
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