GIRO MANOYAN: TURKEY MAY CASH IN ON US COURT’S APPELLATE JUDGEMENT

Information-Analytic Agency NEWS.am
Aug 27 2009
Armenia

U.S. President Barack Obama should make it clear that his not using
the term ‘genocide’ does not mean any other president cannot recognize
the Armenian Genocide, Head of the Hay Dat (Armenian Cause) Office
Giro Manoyan told reporters.

Manoyan also addressed an appellate judgement rendered by one of
the courts of appeal in California, USA, on August 20. The court
invalidated as unconstitutional the law on life insurance indemnities
for the relatives of victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman
Empire in 1915. Manoyan presented the details of the judgement the
Armenian side is going to appeal.

Manoyan is sure that the judgement must be appealed. Otherwise
Turkey will be cashing in on it to force the U.S. states that
recognized the Armenian Genocide to invalidate the resolutions as
unconstitutional. The Turkish lobby will thus try to prevent the
adoption of a resolution on the Armenian Genocide by the US Congress.

Manoyan offers two ways of preventing such developments – a political
and a legal one.

The political way is that the Armenian lobby in the United States gets
President Obama to clearly state that his not using the term "genocide"
does not mean that any other president cannot recognize the Armenian
Genocide. The legal way is appealing the judgement, the more so that
only two of 10-12 justices were considering the claim, and only three
justices rendered the judgement. The last resort is, Manoyan said,
applying to the United States Supreme Court. It is important that
the judgement not become a precedent for the U.S. judicial system.

As to whether the United State is trying to pressure Armenia by
means of such judgements, Manoyan said: "I do not want to believe
that the Executive can so easily use the Judiciary in the United
States. However, Armenia is obviously being pressured in the context of
Armenian-Turkish relations irrespective of the judgement in question,"
he said.

It is noteworthy that a week remains for the judgement to be appealed.