FRANCE TO PAY ARMENIAN MASSACRE DESCENDANTS

Moscow News, Russia
July 20 2007

YEREVAN (AFP) – The descendants of victims of a World War I massacre
of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire can apply for payments from
French insurance giant AXA until October, lawyers said.

AXA settled a class-action lawsuit in 2005 with a $17.5 million
settlement in favor of the heirs of policy-holders who were unable
to claim insurance from current subsidiaries of the company that were
operating in the Ottoman Empire.

AXA has released a list of 7,000 names of victims whose heirs may be
eligible for payments. Applicants must present documented evidence
of their relationship with the victims, the law firm said.

Barseg Gardalian, a lawyer with the US-based firm that filed the
class-action suit, told a press conference in Yerevan that a settlement
board has been accepting applications since April 1.

The deadline for requests is October 1, Gardalian said.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen were victims of a
genocide under the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century.

Turkey argues that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died
in civil strife during World War I when Armenians took up arms for
independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with invading Russian
troops.

Similar class-action suits claiming restitution for deposits allegedly
seized by Ottoman authorities and transferred to Europe have been
filed against major Western banks, including Germany’s Deutsche and
Dresdner banks.