THE 1934-1935 TURKISH-AMERICAN COMPENSATION AGREEMENT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Abstract

In relation to the Turkish-Armenian conflict, one of the mostimportant issues on the agenda today is the question of abandoned Armenianproperty. Members of the Armenian Diaspora are claiming compensation fromTurkey for those properties abandoned and/or confiscated to meet therequirements of the army during the WW1. Armenians argue that they have astrong and legitimate claim to receive reparation from Turkey and that theArmenian entitlement for reparation has certainly not lapsed. The presentarticle, however, contends that the claims of the naturalized American citizensof Ottoman Armenian origin are rather legally ungrounded in the light of the1934-1935 Turkish American Agreement. Having studied the details of the talksand evaluated the contents of all files submitted to the State Department forcompensation, the author concludes that Turkey agreed to pay $1.300.000 forcompensation in 13 installments. However, this figure alone shows thatArmenian claims were found rather exaggerated by the State Department.Moreover, the fact that the State Department asked the Turkish government notto continue the payment after the 9thinstallment demonstrates blatantly thateligible Armenian claimants were indeed quite a few

Keywords

• Turkey, Armenian, U.S., compensation