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Turks And Germans: Partners In Crime And Allies In Court

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  • Turks And Germans: Partners In Crime And Allies In Court

    TURKS AND GERMANS: PARTNERS IN CRIME AND ALLIES IN COURT
    By Harut Sassounian

    Tert.am
    02.02.11

    Last month, when German life insurance companies requested a rehearing
    from a Federal Court of Appeals, contesting its decision in favor of
    Armenian claimants, the Republic of Turkey filed an "amicus curiae"
    (friend of the court) petition in support of the German defendants.

    This was an intriguing development. The heirs of now deceased Armenian
    policyholders were suing German insurance companies; and Turkey -- not
    a party to the lawsuit -- was shamelessly siding with the delinquent
    firms. No one was demanding payment from the Turkish government! Why
    would Turkey, a foreign country, interfere in a U.S. lawsuit against
    German companies?

    The Turkish petition is a 15-page-long propaganda piece that denies
    the facts of the Armenian Genocide. It describes the United States
    and Turkey as working "shoulder-to-shoulder," adding that 120,000
    Turks reside in the United States, and that 700,000 Americans visit
    Turkey every year. The Turkish brief does not explain, however, how
    any of these assertions have any relevance to the failure of German
    insurance companies to compensate the heirs of Armenian policyholders.

    The Turkish petition attacks the California law extending the statute
    of limitations on Armenian claims against insurance companies by
    heirs of genocide victims. It alleges that the California statute
    "offends Turkey~Rs sovereignty by legislating Turkish history and
    by declaring Turkey and its predecessor state guilty of the crime
    of genocide." The petition goes on to state: "Turkey resents having
    any U.S. legislature or other official formulate its own definition
    of genocide specifically to declare that Turkey or its predecessor
    state is guilty of this crime." Ironically, the Turkish government
    never expressed any resentment or complaint when 42 U.S. states
    and many American cities were recognizing the Armenian Genocide in
    recent decades. Ankara justified its inaction by claiming that its
    counterpart is the federal government, not individual states or cities.

    The Turkish petition lamely claims that foreign states can not "monitor
    and react to the individual actions of fifty state legislatures and
    governors. Rather, Turkey~Rs interlocutor with the fifty United States
    is the U.S. federal government." It then quotes from Turkish Ambassador
    Nabi Sensoy~Rs letter to the Court of Appeals on December 4, 2008,
    stating that "Turkey has not as such protested state proclamations
    on this historic controversy because it conducts it (sic) foreign
    affairs directly with the U.S. Federal Government, primarily the
    Executive Branch. We do not have similar relations with the states."

    The petition falsely refers to the Genocide as "mutual suffering of
    Ottoman Armenians and Turks" and "wartime misery." It flippantly
    dismisses Pres. Reagan~Rs 1981 Proclamation acknowledging the
    Armenian Genocide, and omits any reference to the two Congressional
    resolutions of 1975 and 1984 recognizing the Genocide. Instead, the
    Turkish government proudly proclaims that no new resolutions were
    adopted on this subject during the Obama administration!

    The Turkish government drops a bombshell by revealing in its petition
    that Prime Minister Erdogan had written to Pres. Obama on December
    19, 2010, complaining about the Federal Appeals Court~Rs decision
    that "the position of the US administration is not against the
    recognition of ~Qgenocide~R at the state or federal level." This is
    yet another blatant attempt by a foreign leader to intervene in US
    court proceedings.

    Interestingly, the petition discloses only a portion of Erdogan~Rs
    letter to Obama, claiming that "the balance of this letter constitutes
    a confidential diplomatic communication."

    The appeals court should either reject the Turkish petition as
    unwarranted interference by a foreign power in American judicial
    proceedings or demand the release of the full text of Erdogan~Rs letter
    to verify the accuracy of the quoted portion and to confirm if it
    includes any other reference to the lawsuit. The Turkish government
    cannot hide behind "diplomatic confidentiality," as it has waived
    the claim of "privileged communication" by selectively disclosing
    portions of the letter.

    In their petition, Turkish officials make the misleading suggestion
    that the Armenia-Turkey Protocols, signed over a year ago, "will
    seek to overcome all hurdles in their present relations, and jointly
    consider the historic controversy." The authors of the disingenuous
    Turkish petition cleverly conceal from federal judges the fact that
    they have not ratified the Protocols and have no intention to do so.

    Ankara is attempting to exploit the now defunct Protocols to quash
    a legitimate lawsuit against German insurance companies.

    The Turkish government has attached two letters to its petition, one
    signed by its Ambassador to the U.S., and the other by the Chairman
    of the Turkish Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. The Federal
    Appeals Court should promptly disregard both letters, along with the
    petition, as propaganda materials lacking any legal merit or standing.




    From: A. Papazian
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