Turkish Press
Aug 21 2009
U.S. Court Annuls California Law On Insurance Payment To Armenians
Published: 8/21/2009
WASHINGTON D.C. – A U.S. federal appeals court has annulled a
California law which enabled the heirs of Armenians that lost their
lives during the incidents of 1915 to file claims against insurance
companies.
The law, which was adopted by California Legislature in 2000, gave the
heirs the opportunity to file claims in order to seek payment on the
life insurance policies of their deceased relatives.
The law also claimed that the incidents of 1915 constituted a
"genocide".
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has invalidated
such law, describing it as an "unconstitutional intervention" in USA’s
foreign policy.
Judge David Thompson said in his decision that the U.S. federal state
had ruled not to use the word "genocide" when describing the incidents
of 1915 as such word had a political meaning.
ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS AND TURKEY’S STANCE
Turkey has long been facing a systematic campaign of defamation
carried out by Armenian lobbying groups. The Armenian diaspora has
lately increased its organized activities throughout the world for the
recognition of their unfounded allegations in regard to the events of
1915 as `genocide" by national and local parliaments.
Until today, parliaments of several countries passed either
resolutions or issued statements on the Armenian issue.
Turkey is of the view that parliaments and other political
institutions are not the appropriate fora to debate and pass judgments
on disputed periods of history.
Turkey also encourages historians, scholars and researchers to freely
examine and discuss this historical issue in every platform.
In this respect, in 2005, Turkey has officially proposed to the
Government of Armenia the establishment of a joint commission of
history composed of historians and other experts from both sides to
study together the events of 1915 not only in the archives of Turkey
and Armenia but also in the archives of all relevant third countries
and to share their findings with the public.
Armenia has not responded positively to this initiative yet.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress