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US Lawsuit Charges Turkey'S Incrilik Air Base Sits On Stolen Armenia

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  • US Lawsuit Charges Turkey'S Incrilik Air Base Sits On Stolen Armenia

    US LAWSUIT CHARGES TURKEY'S INCRILIK AIR BASE SITS ON STOLEN ARMENIAN LAND
    by Yigal Schleifer

    EurasiaNet.org
    Sept 27 2011
    NY

    The Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, which is leased out to the
    United States, is among Washington's most important strategic assets,
    serving as a logistics and support hub for American military operations
    in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places. But a lawsuit working its way
    through a California court alleges that the air base sits on land
    that was illegally taken from an Armenian family in 1923.

    Some background:

    The lawsuit, which was filed past year against these banks and under
    American Armenian Alex Bakalian's guidance, states that in 1923 the
    lands-in Adana, Turkey-belonging to their families were transferred
    to the Bank of Agriculture. On one of the 4 plots of these lands the
    Incirlik military base was built, which is leased to US. The lawsuit
    demands the value of these lands, which comprise $63 million US,
    and part of the income received from the lease of Incirlik, which
    totals $100 million.

    Turkish human rights lawyer and columnist for the Today's Zaman
    newspaper Orhan Kemal Cengiz has written some good columns about the
    case recently, offering more details about the case. This column of his
    reprints a very interesting interview with Bakalian's lawyer, in which
    he lays out the legal framework for the case. In a subsequent column,
    Cengiz details the defense submitted by the Turkish banks being sued in
    the case (the Turkish governmnet itself has not submitted a defense,
    according to the columnist). Both columns are worth reading -- this
    case could prove to be a very significant one.

    http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64229

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