TURKEY OWES 3.5 BN TO HEIRS OF GENOCIDE VICTIMS
Yerkir, Armenia
Nov 17 2006
Turkey owes about £3.5 bn to the heirs of the Armenians killed
and robbed in genocide of 1918 in Baku; Azerbaijan, in turn, owes
£134,149,000, according to Khachatur Dadayan of Armenia’s National
Academy of Sciences. The figures appear in his book titled "Baku and
Armenians" and published by Noravank Foundation.
Dadayan’s study is based on the conclusions of a commission set up
by England, France and United States in December 1918 in Baku; only
7 out 30 members of the commission were Armenians. The commission
had suggested that Armenian population submit applications for
compensating the massacres and robberies occurred in Baku in 1918. In
1919, the commission concluded that 453.1 million rubles should be
paid to Armenians.
It also concluded that the money should have been paid by Turkey since
that country was considered the founder of Azerbaijan; in addition,
Turkish troops had entered Baku and submitted the Armenians to massacre
along with the local Azeris on September 15, 1918.
To calculate the sum that was to be paid to Armenians, the author
used the operations of Stepan Lianosian with English banks in 1919.
Lianosian had received a payment guarantee for 400,000 pounds and
issued 4 million rubles in the North-Western Republic.
November 1 was taken as the beginning point for calculations. Dadayan
says that Azerbaijan adopted a constitutional act on October 18,
1991, according to which, it is the successor of the Azerbaijani
Republic that existed between May 28, 1918 and April 28, 1920; this
means Azerbaijan has also assumed the obligation to make financial
reparations.
After applying a 5% banking interest for the periods between November
1918 and April 1920, and 1992-2006, the author concluded that the
successor of the First Azerbaijani Republic owes the heirs of the
victimized Armenians 134,149,000 pounds.
However, the commission has also recognized Turkey to be responsible
for what had happened and concluded that Turkey’s debt was 59,210,000
pounds. If the 5% banking interests for each year between 1918 and 2006
is added to this sum, Turkey’s debt accumulates to 4.552 bn pounds;
3.518 bn of this sum is the money owed to Armenians.
The author of the book believes that even in case Turkey and Azerbaijan
refuse to recognize the Armenian Genocide, they cannot deny to pay the
reparations because all the legal grounds exist for such reparations.
–Boundary_(ID_hvr9IogSzYJH15I+o6lvd Q)–