Associated Press
Jan 22 2005

Nine Armenian charity groups to get $3 million of insurance
settlement

The Associated Press

Nine Armenian charitable groups will receive $3 million over the next
two weeks as part of a $20 million settlement between an insurance
company and descendants of Armenians killed nearly 90 years ago in
the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

Five organizations on the East Coast will each receive checks for
more than $333,000 during a ceremony Wednesday in New York, the Daily
News of Los Angeles reported. The remaining groups will receive
payments at a second event being organized in Los Angeles.

The organizations include New York’s Armenian General Benevolent
Union, New Jersey’s Armenian Missionary Association of America, Inc.,
and the Armenian Education Foundation, based in Glendale.

“As the grandson of two genocide survivors, I’m particularly pleased
to be handing money to these organizations, because these kinds of
organizations helped my grandparents when they first arrived here,”
said Brian Kabateck, an attorney in the lawsuit.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said they filed the class-action lawsuit
to raise awareness of the deaths as well as to win unpaid life
insurance benefits from New York Life Insurance Co.

They contend that 1.5 million Armenians were killed in an act of
genocide by the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Turkey rejects the genocide
claim and maintains that Armenians were killed in civil unrest during
the collapse of the empire.

The legal agreement approved last July by U.S. District Court Judge
Christina A. Snyder is believed to be the first ever in connection
with the disputed event.

At least $11 million was set aside for heirs of some 2,400
policyholders while $4 million was to cover legal fees. Another $3
million was earmarked for charities, with $2 million used for
administrative costs and anything not spent on expenses going to
charities.

Potential heirs of policyholders have until March 15 to file a claim
for a portion of the settlement.