AXA SETTLES SUIT BROUGHT BY HEIRS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Forbes
Oct 13 2005
LOS ANGELES (AFX) – The heirs of victims of the 1915 Turkish massacre
of Armenians have agreed to settle a class action lawsuit against
French insurer Axa for 17 mln usd, lawyers said yesterday.
The lawsuit, filed in a California court, accused Axa of failing to
pay death benefits for the insurance policies purchased by Armenians
living in the Ottoman Empire prior to the genocide in which up to
1.5 million people were killed.
‘This is an example where dead men can’t speak but they can file
lawsuits,’ said Vartkes Yeghiayan. ‘It writes another chapter about
persistence and hope. The resolution of the case helps the healing
process.’
Under the terms of the deal, announced in Los Angeles, Axa will donate
at least 3 mln usd to various French-based Armenian charities and
another 11 mln usd towards a fund designed to pay out policyholders
of Axa units that did business in the now defunct Turkish-run Ottoman
Empire.
‘Certain of these policyholders and beneficiaries were among the
1.5 million Armenians who perished and were unable to obtain their
insurance proceeds in the ensuing chaos,’ lawyers for the victims’
descendants said in a statement.
The Axa settlement follows a similar agreement with New York Life
Insurance Company in early 2004 under which it agreed to pay 20
mln usd.
‘The AXA and New York Life settlements are important building blocks
not only toward seeking financial recovery for the losses resulting
from the Armenian Genocide but also in our ultimate goal, which is
for Turkey and the US to officially acknowledge the genocide,’ said
US celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos.
Geragos, who has represented stars including Michael Jackson and
Winona Ryder, is of Armenian descent.
‘These cases are historical because they are the only cases ever
brought on behalf of genocide survivors,’ he said.
No comment was immediately available from Axa.
The settlement, subject to court approval, will be administered
in France, which was one of the first countries to recognise the
Armenian genocide.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in orchestrated
killings during the final years of the Ottoman Empire.
But the Turkish government strenuously denies this, saying that
300,000 Armenians and as many Turks were killed in a civil war when
the Armenians, backed by Russia, rose up against the Ottoman Empire.