ARMENIA HEIRS WIN $17M AXA PAYOUT

BBC News, UK
Oct 13 2005

Armenia wants Turkey to admit the killings were “genocide” The
descendants of Armenians who died in mass killings by Ottoman Turks
have agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit against French insurance
giant Axa.

The case, filed in California, accused Axa of failing to pay death
benefits on policies bought by Armenians who died.

Under the deal, the firm will pay $17m (£9.7m) to Armenian charitable
groups.

Armenians say 1.5m of their people were killed or deported under
Ottoman Turkish rule in 1915. Turkey denies there was a systematic
massacre.

Under the terms of the settlement, announced in Los Angeles, Axa will
donate at least $3m to selected French-based Armenian charities.

Another $11m has been earmarked for the heirs of policyholders with
subsidiaries of Axa that operated in the Ottoman Turkish Empire
before 1915.

‘Ultimate goal’

In the chaos that followed the killings, many were unable to obtain
their insurance proceeds, lawyers for the claimants said.

The Axa settlement is expected to be approved by California’s
District Court in November. The US state is home to the world’s
largest population of Armenians outside their own country.

Axa has not yet commented on the deal, which will be administered
in France.

The Axa case was the second of its kind to be brought in US courts.

Earlier, New York Life Insurance Company agreed to pay $20m (£11.4m)
to descendants of Armenian policyholders who died in 1915.

Lawyer Mark Geragos said the settlements were “important building
blocks… [towards]our ultimate goal, which is for Turkey and the US
to officially acknowledge the genocide”.

Turkey says up to 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died
during civil strife in eastern Turkey during World War I, but angrily
rejects the allegation of a planned “genocide” of Armenians.

–Boundary_(ID_BmmWnaCRFJRDAL5XU13Lmg)–