Apr 22

STATEMENT to the UN: “On compensation for material losses suffered by the Armenian people during the First World War”, September 25, 2022

To the United Nations Secretary-General  Mr. Antonio Guterres

To Heads of States Permanent Members  of the United Nations Security Council

S T A T E M E N T

On compensation of material losses suffered by the Armenian people during the First World War

We appeal to you to examine and implement the compensation process of the material losses suffered by the Armenian people during the First World War, taking into account reparation obligations of the Republic of Turkey to the Armenian people, as the successor of the Ottoman Empire, which is estimated 19,130,982,000 French francs in 1919 prices, according to the report and calculations of the Special Committee acting as the  part of the Special Commission Commission on Reparations of the Paris Peace Conference, presented on April 14, 1919.

 

I. Bearing in mind the report of the Special Committee acting as the part of the Special Commission on Reparations of the Paris Peace Conference.

1)  January 18, 1919 the Paris Peace Conference began its work in Paris, the purpose of which was the comprehensive review of all matters relating to the war and the preparation of peace treaties. One of the most important issues was reparations of material losses by the countries responsible for warmongering. Accordingly, there was a Special Commission on the issue of reparations (The Commission on Reparations of Damage /Valuation of Damage/) as a part of the Paris Conference. After almost 2 months of work, it became obvious that not only the countries directly involved in the war sustained the material losses. Therefore, on March 7, 1919, the mentioned commission formed a separate body – the Special Committee, whose purpose was to summarize the material losses of countries and nations that are not represented to the Commission and give an official course to their compensation. The Special Committee had the following members: General McKinstry (USA), Colonel Peel (Great Britain), Mr. Jouasset (France); secretaries: H. James (USA), Mr. P. Laure (France). Within one month the Special Committee summarized the documents submitted by delegations, as well as obtained from other sources, and presented the preliminary report to the Special Commission on reparations of the Paris Peace Conference on April 14, 1919. Although calculations for Western and Eastern Armenians were carried out separately, however the losses were represented by a single final figure. In accordance with this, the losses of the Armenian nation in 1914-1919, on the whole, amounted 19,130,982,000 French francs at 1919 prices.

According to the report, the material losses of Armenians were as follows:

A) Western Armenia (or, as stated in the document, Turkish Armenia):

a) personal material losses of the rural population 4,601,610,000

b) personal material losses of the urban population 3,235,550,000

c) collective material losses 6,761,350,000

Total: 14,598,510,000 francs

B) The Republic of Armenia and other Armenian-populated territories of the Caucasus:

a) population losses of those settlements, whose population has been completely expelled 1,831,872,000

b) population losses of those settlements, whose population has not been expelled 1,293,600,000

c) other material losses 1,407,000,000

Total: 4,532,472,000 francs

Total material losses amounted 19,130,982,000 FFR

 2)  Thus, the obligation for reparations of the Republic of Turkey as the legal successor of the Ottoman Empire in relation to the Armenian people is 19,130,982,000 francs, according to the report and calculations of the Special Committee acting as the  part of the Special Commission on Reparations of the Paris Peace Conference, presented on April 14, 1919.

II. On several important issues concerning the damage done to the Armenian people.

1. It should be especially noted that during the Armenian Genocide (1894-1923, 1918-2022 and still ongoing), the Armenian people suffered much greater losses, not only material, as indicated in the report, but also human, territorial, cultural, spiritual, educational, architectural, economic, financial and other types of losses. In other words, the Armenian people suffered huge losses of their civilizational heritage․

2. Therefore, it should be emphasized that this statement refers only to the above-mentioned calculation and only to the material losses suffered by the Armenian people during the First World War.

This statement in no way refers to the losses suffered by the Armenian people during the Armenian Genocide, including not only material ones, i.e. the Armenian Genocide 1894-1923 by successive governments of Turkey and the Armenian Genocide 1918-2022 carried out by successive governments of Azerbaijan.

It should also be noted that the policy and practice of hatred against Armenians and the Genocide, pursued by the governments of these states, continues to this day.

3.  The policy of hatred towards Armenians (and other indigenous peoples) in Turkey and Azerbaijan has a long history. It begins as early as 1873-1874, when Turkey, and later Azerbaijan in 1918, adopted at the state level an extremely nationalist policy of Pan-Turkism and Pan-Turanism. The consequence of this is the ongoing Genocide against the Armenians (and other indigenous peoples of the region) and the implementation of the Genocide policy. Only in 1894-1923 Turkey destroyed 4 million citizens of the country: Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians… In subsequent years, the same states regularly committed serious war crimes against all the indigenous peoples of the region, but especially against the Armenians and Armenia.

4.  It is impossible not to take into account the realities that:

a) Massacre and deportation of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians․․․ committed in the period 1894 – 1923. are Genocide according to the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of December 9, 1948.

b) Genocide of Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians․․․ subject to condemnation in accordance with the UN Convention on the non-applicability of the statute of limitations to war crimes and crimes against humanity, of November 26, 1968.

III. The period of the Armenian Genocide and the human losses suffered by the Armenian people.

  1.   The Armenian Genocide was carried out in 1894-1923 successive Turkish governments: sultans, Young Turks, Kemalists. The genocide was carried out in the Ottoman Empire, including in Western Armenia, Cilician Armenia, as well as in Eastern Armenia, Baku, Shushi and other adjacent areas populated by Armenians.
  2.  1894-96 period: Sultan Abdul Hamid II organized the massacres and killed nearly 300 thousands of Armenians, 200 thousands were forced to religious conversion, 100 thousand Armenians were deported. The massacre of Armenians was carried out by the Turkish regular army, “hamidie” regiments, police and the Muslim mob.
  3. Turkish policy of forced religious conversion during Hamid massacres of Armenians became the basis for starting the policy of islamization and its further implementation in a more brutal manner.
  4. 1894-96 period: Hamid massacres and killings had been condemned by the leading figures of that time Jean Jaurиs, Victor Berare, Anatole France, Johannes Lepsius, Lynch and others.
  5. 1909 year: Adana massacres handwriting was the same, as the Turkish government organized, nationalist mobs carried it out and the Turkish army took part in it. Nearly 30 thousand people were killed during Adana massacres. The Young Turks organized a trial related to the fact of genocide, but it was a mere formality. Moreover, by the artificially started fire they tried to destroy the documents, related to that trial, but even though many items were saved and are kept up to these days.
  6. On April 24th, 1915, with the arrest of the Armenian intelligentsia in Constantinople, the largest wave of the Armenian Genocide began, which continued until 1923 and, in fact, it has not ended until today. As a result of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1918 over 1.5 million Armenians were killed and 500,000 deported. Many became refugees and exiles.
  7. On May 24th, 1915 Great Britain, France and Russia issued a statement, condemning the pogroms and the Armenian Genocide committed by the Young Turks, in which the April massacre of 1915 was qualified as “a new crime of Turkey against humanity and civilization”.
  8. The Ottoman Empire, which committed the Armenian Genocide, was one of the first to recognize and condemn it. In 1919 Constantinople’s military court organized a Tribunal of Young Turks leaders by presenting them with two charges: involvement of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War and organization of massacre, Genocide and deportations of Armenians loyal to the Ottoman Empire, on the basis of which Young Turks leaders Talaat, Enver, Jemal Nazim, Kemal Bey, Cemal Azmin and Naim Bey, Behaeddin Shakir  were sentenced to death in absentia,  which was subsequently carried out by the Armenian avengers, as part of retaliation action of “Nemesis”
  9. The Armenian Genocide was recognized and condemned by 40 states, several UN committees (1985), the Council of Europe (1998, 2001), the European Parliament (1987, 2000, 2002, 2015), World Council of Churches (1983). Permanent Tribunal of the Nations (1984), all 50 states of the USA, etc.
  10. On March 25, 2019, the UN demanded from Turkey reliable information about the fate of forcibly deported Armenians during the 1915-1923 Genocide.

In the seven-point question addressed to the President of the Republic of Turkey, it is written:

– Please provide any information and/or comment(s) you may have on the charges.

– What policies has your Excellency’s Government adopted to respond to these accusations?

– What measures has Turkey taken to establish the facts, including the fate or whereabouts of Armenians who were subjected to forced internal displacement, detention, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearance in the period of 1915-1923?

– What measures have been taken to ensure the right of victims and society as a whole to know the truth about these events, and to ensure the right of victims to justice and reparations for the damage caused?

– What measures have been taken to locate, insofar as possible, the bodies of Armenians who died as a result of these events?

– Please provide information about the reasons for the adoption of the 2017 legislation preventing lawmakers from making certain expressions. Please explain how this is compatible with international human rights law, in particular with article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

– Please provide detailed information on the cases of application of Article 301 of the Criminal Code to punish persons for statements about alleged crimes against Armenians.

11.  On October 29, 2019, the House of Representatives of the US Congress adopted the Resolution “Reaffirming the US Position on the Recognition of the Armenian Genocide”, where it is written: ” The Elie Wiesel law on Genocide and Atrocities Prevention of 2018 establishes that atrocities prevention represents the United States national interest, and this law confirms that the policy of the United States is to implement the  U.S. national strategy to identify, prevent, and effectively respond to the risks and threats of atrocities by “strengthening diplomatic response and the effective use of foreign assistance to support appropriate transitional justice measures, including criminal liability for past atrocities”.

12.  On April 24, 2021, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, in his address to the Armenian people, officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. “Since April 24, 1915, after the arrests of the Armenian intelligentsia and community leaders of Constantinople by the Ottoman authorities, one and a half million Armenians were displaced, massacred or sent to their deaths for the purpose of extermination. We commemorate the victims of the Great Genocide so that the horrors of the past are never lost to history. And we remember to remain ever-vigilant in the fight against the destructive influence of hatred in all its manifestations,” declared the 46th president of the United States, having become the first and only head of the White House to fulfill the promise that had been given to generations of Genocide survivors 106 years ago: if he becomes the President, to recognize officially the Armenian Genocide and make human rights the priority of his administration.

IV. Crimes committed by successive governments of Turkey against the Armenian people, humanity and civilization, at least over the last 100 years.

  1.  The formation of a policy of spreading and propagating Armenophobia, national superiority and arrogance, and the racist ideology of Pan-Turkism.
  2.  Planning, propaganda, and preparation of a program for the implementation of the Armenian Genocide.
  3.  During 1894-1896, 1909, 1915-1918, 1919-1923 in the Armenian Highland and in the Ottoman Empire the Genocide and deportation of Armenians, looting and appropriation of Armenian people’s property.
  4.  In 1915 and in subsequent years implementation of the massacres and the Genocide, theft and misappropriation of the property not only Armenians but also Assyrians, Greeks, Arabs (later since the mid of 1920s Kurds as well).
  5.  From 1894 up to the present the organization and carrying out the Greatest Cultural Genocide of Armenians and other autochthonous peoples of the Ottoman Empire.
  6.  In 1918 committing aggression against the Armenians of Western Armenia, the imposition of the illegal Treaty of Batumi (June 4, 1918) on the newly formed Republic of Armenia.
  7.  In 1918 the Genocide of Armenians living in Baku.
  8.  In 1920 the pogroms of the Armenians of Shushi, the robbery of their property and the arson of the city.
  9.  At the expense of the rights of the Armenian people, on March 3, 1918, the Brest Agreement was signed between the Federal Socialist Republic of Russia on the one hand and the governments of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire on the other. Under this treaty, Russia transferred Western Armenia and a significant part of Eastern Armenia to Turkey. According to the agreement, Russia disbanded the Armenian volunteer regiments and withdrew troops from Armenia. The so-called illegal Moscow Treaty signed on March 16, 1921 between the Government of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Grand National Assembly of Turkey was, in fact, a continuation of the Brest Supplementary Treaty and its “ratification”. The above-mentioned treaties, in fact, have flagrantly violated the basic provisions of the international law since they were signed as a result of aggression and coercion.
  10.  In 1920, committing aggression against the Republic of Armenia, the imposition of illegal treaties on the aggressed party – the Treaties of Alexandropol in 1920 and the Treaties of Kars in 1921.
  11.  In 1937 Armenians and Akevi Genocide in Dersim.
  12.  September 1955: massacres of Greeks and Armenians in Constantinople, the Genocide, plundering of Greek and Armenian property. According to official figures, оn September 6-7 11 people were killed, while the Armenian and Greek communities indicate different numbers: 37 killed, 300 raped women, 71 churches, 3 houses for editing newspapers, 4,500 workshops and shops, 26 schools, 2,100 houses and apartments were destroyed.
  13.  1974, the occupation of the northern territories of the Republic of Cyprus, the mass killings of local Greeks and Armenians, the Genocide, deportation, property plundering.
  14.  In 1894-1923, and the ongoing destruction, elimination of Armenian civilizational values, including historical and architectural monuments, churches and cross-stones (memorial cross-stones). According to official figures, by the beginning of 1914, the total number of churches and monasteries in Western Armenia and the Ottoman Empire was 2549 (including unique early Christian monuments of the IV-V centuries), most of which were robbed, burned and destroyed during the Genocide. According to UNESCO in 1974, after 1923 out of 913 preserved Armenian historical and architectural monuments, 464 were completely destroyed, 252 are in ruins, 197 need to be rebuilt. And today there is almost nothing to restore – the government of the Republic of Turkey was systematically destroying them.
  15.  Falsification of historical, cultural and civilizational values of Armenians and other nations of the region.
  16.  Denial of the historical fact of the Armenian Genocide and refusal to recognize the fact of its commission. Proposals to create a commission of historians with the unrealistic hope of gaining time and delaying the time of reparation.
  17. The occupation of the territory of Armenia, the borders of which were approved by the 28th President of the United States Woodrow Wilson’s Arbitral Award, dated November 22, 1920.
  18.  Since 1993, the blockade of the Republic of Armenia by the Republic of Turkey.
  19.  September 27, 2020, military-political active participation in the aggression and crimes committed by the Republic of Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh with the involvement of international ISIS terrorists.

 The crimes against humanity committed by the authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan against Armenians living in the region, Armenians of Armenia and Artsakh and other peoples are a repetition of the criminal scenarios and plans of the authorities of the Republic of Turkey, the full image of which will be presented in the next paragraph.

V. Crimes committed by the changing governments of the Republic of Azerbaijan against the Armenian people, against humanity and civilization, over the past 100 years, are a copy of the handwriting and program of the changing governments of the Republic of Turkey. We cannot cover a longer time interval, since an artificial state called Azerbaijan was created in 1918.

  1. Participation in riots against Armenians in the Caucasus in 1905-1906, the persecution and murder of Armenians, the seizure of their property.
  2. Participation in the massacre of Baku Armenians by Turkish troops in 1918, the theft of their property.
  3. 1918-1921 – armed attacks and violence against the Armenian population of Karabakh, Nakhichevan, Zangezur, aggression against the Republic of Armenia, groundless territorial claims, the spread of instability in the region.
  4. The massacre of the Armenian population of Shushi in 1920, the arson of the city, the theft of property of the Armenians of the city.
  5. The adoption of an illegal decision on the annexation of Artsakh to Azerbaijan. On July 5, 1921, at the meeting of the Caucasian Bureau of the Communist Party of Russia, without taking into account the relevant decision of the League of Nations and the opinion of the people of Artsakh as a democratic instrument for demarcating the borders between Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan, in violation of the resolution on annexation, as a result of procedural violations, a decision on the forcible separation of Artsakh from Armenia was adopted, on the condition of the formation of national autonomy with broad powers within Soviet Azerbaijan. Thus, most of the historical Armenian and Armenian-populated areas were transferred to Soviet Azerbaijan.
  6. The signing of the illegal Moscow Treaty in 1921, the annexation of the Nakhichevan region under the guise of the name of guardianship. The occupation and exploitation of the Nakhichevan region, the crimes and persecution of the indigenous Armenians of Nakhichevan and, finally, the deportation of Nakhichevan Armenians.
  7. 1921-1988 – occupation and exploitation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, crimes against Armenians of Artsakh.
  8. 1930s up to present – the forced assimilation of the peoples living in Azerbaijan, Nakhichevan and Artsakh – Armenians, Udi, Talyshevs, Tats, Avars, Lezgins, and many of them have committed acts of genocide.
  9. 1960s up to present – falsification of the history and culture of the peoples of the region, in particular Armenians, the destruction or appropriation of civilizational, historical and architectural values.
  10. 1988 — any manifestation of the will and right of Armenians of Artsakh to live freely and freely develop was suppressed by mass killings, persecution, intimidation, imprisonment of Armenians.
  11. The shameful looting of building materials intended for the restoration of the Spitak earthquake in 1988, as well as humanitarian aid collected for the disaster zone.
  12. 1988-1990, the Genocide and deportation of the Armenian population of Azerbaijan, robbery of their property.
  13. 1991-1994 – large-scale aggression against the NKR and the border regions of the Republic of Armenia.
  14. The Republic of Azerbaijan is a state whose government has destroyed and continues destroying many ancient Armenian monuments, churches and the cultural heritage of the Armenian people. Evidence of all this is the destruction of 89 medieval Armenian churches, 5480 khachkars and 22,700 burials located in the Armenian territories of Azerbaijan, Artsakh and Nakhchivan, including 400 khachkars in Agulis and the destruction of thousands of medieval original and ancient khachkars in the city of Dzhuga in the Nakhchivan region in 2005 year.
  15. April 2016 – the outbreak of a four-day war and aggression against the Armenians of Artsakh and the Republic of Artsakh, the commission of new war crimes.
  16. 1988-2019 blockade of NKR, RA, obstruction of the right to free development, blockade.
  17. The period 1988-2019 – Under conditions of weak control of the international community, the Republic of Azerbaijan is building up its military potential, surpassing and violating all established permissible weapons standards, inciting to regional instability.
  18. The authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan sow Armenophobia, xenophobia, racism, incite blind ethnic hatred, propaganda and preparation for new wars and the Genocide, especially among the younger generation.
  19. On September 27, 2020, a large-scale – unprecedented aggression of the alliance of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Pakistan along with Islamic extremist groups of the Middle East against the Republic of Artsakh took place. In the arsenal of the aggressors, in addition to modern deadly and prohibited weapons, cluster shells with white phosphorus, there were also all those means and methods that the authorities of the Ottoman Empire, starting from 1894-1923, used against the peoples of the region and citizens of the Ottoman Empire – Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians and other autochthonous peoples of the Ottoman Empire…
  20. From 1905 up to the present, the organization and conducting the Greatest Cultural Genocide of Armenians and other indigenous peoples of Artsakh, the dearmenization of Nakhichevan and the Western Caspian Sea.
  21. From 1988, since the earthquake in Spitak, the blockade of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and the Republic of Armenia by the Azerbaijani SSR.
  22. The crimes committed by the successive governments of the three republics of the Western Caspian region – the so-called republics of Azerbaijan against Armenians and other indigenous peoples of the region against humanity and civilization are a copy of the handwriting and criminal program of the Turkish authorities.

VI. Taking into account the presentation of the claims of the Armenian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference: 

1)  In early 1919 the Armenian National Congress was convened in Paris one of the most important decisions of which was the election of the «Armenian unified national delegation» («Delegation of Integrated Armenia») co-chaired by Boghos Nubar and Avetis Aharonian and the approval of pre-prepared joint memorandum of the claims of the Armenians and presented by the Armenian unified national delegation at the Paris Peace Conference on February 12, 1919  which justified the necessity of the creation of an independent Armenian State and clarified its territory which inited seven vilayates (regions) of Western Armenia (including Trebizond), the Republic of Armenia and Cilicia;

2) On February, 26 the Armenian unified national delegation participated in the meeting of Council of Ten where repeated the basic requirements of the M The delegation was also received (on April 17, 1919) by the 28-th US President Woodrow Wilson who assured that he would do everything possible to protect the territorial claims of Armenians;

3) In his letter to the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Allied powers dated November 22, 1920, the 28th US President Woodrow Wilson based on his Arbitral Award underlined that “it is essential to keep in mind that the new state of Armenia, which will include a larger part of the former Armenian provinces of Transcaucasian Russia…”;

4) In response to the submitted requirements of the Armenian unified national delegation from January 19, 1920 the the Supreme Council of the Allied powers adopted the following decision and «de facto» recognized the State of Armenia:

– The Government of the Armenian State is recognized as the Government,

– This decision does not predetermine the Armenian State’s border issue.

These two decisionsby the Paris Peace Conference Secretariat from January 27, 1920 were officially presented to the delegation of the Armenian national unified delegation.

5) On May 11, 1920 the Turkish delegation was invited to the Paris Peace Conference where they received the «Conditions of peace». The Armenian State delegation was also among the Allied Powers. In the Preamble of the «Conditions of peace» which later became the Preamble of the Treaty of Sevres Armenia is mentioned along with the Allied Powers. Thus, the Armenian State was recognized «de jure».

VII. Taking into account the status of the three republics of Armenia

1. The First Republic of Armenia, and subsequently the Union Armenian USR under conditions of aggression and coercion (the Alexandropol Treaty of 02.12.1920 and the Kars Treaty of 13.10.1921) were forced to renounce the rights granted to the Armenian people and Armenian State in 1920 on the basis of unified Armenian claims, being forced to remain only within the framework of rights and jurisdiction of the Republics of Armenia, in other words –  Eastern Armenia.

2. The Third Republic of Armenia, through official statements of the leaders of the state repeated that it remains outside the framework of the rights granted to the Armenian people and the Armenian State (the State of Armenia) in 1918-1920, provided on the basis of unified Armenian claims, and is forced to remain only within the framework of the rights and powers of the Republic of Armenia, in other words Eastern Armenia and defending this issue is transferred directly to the Armenian people – to the broad circles of the Armenian public.

3. It should be noted that the third President of the Republic of Armenia in 2015, addressing to the participants of the All-Armenian Youth Gathering “Baze-2015”, set the task of resolving the Armenian issue and realizing the right granted to the Armenian people to future generations and, in fact, to the Armenian people scattered all over the world.

On January 19, 2015, at the Memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide “Tsitsernakaberd” city Yerevan, the 3rd President of the Republic of Armenia officially read the Pan-Armenian Declaration of the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, where in the 2nd article it was written: “Reaffirms the commitment of Armenia and the Armenian people to continue the international struggle for the prevention of Genocides, the restoration of the rights of peoples subjected to Genocide, and the establishment of historical justice”.

4. The present authorities of the Republic of Western Armenia by the statements of the officials fully refused from all rights given to the Armenian people and the State of Armenia by the international community in 1918-1920.

5.  However, all this does not mean that Armenians scattered around the world as a result of the Genocide of Armenians can accept such realities imposed on the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

On the contrary: Armenians scattered around the world, the number of whom is much larger than their compatriots living in the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, chose the way of protection of the common rights granted to the Armenian people and the State of Armenia in 1918-1920 by the international community aimed at the final and fair solution of the Armenian question.

VIII. Based on the following political and legal decisions, documents and facts regarding the solution of the Armenian Question: 

– A joint special Statement by the Governments of Great Britain, France and Russia that were the first to recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide, in which they qualified this monstrous crime as “… In view of these new crimes committed by Turkey against humanity and civilization, the allied governments of Russia, France and England publicly announce to the Brilliant Porte that hold personally responsible for these crimes on all members of the Turkish government, as well as on those of its local representatives who will be involved in such a massacre.”, dated May 24, 1915;

– The Decree of the Government of Russia (Council of People’s Commissars of Russia) «About Turkish Armenia» («About Western Armenia») dated January 11, 1918;

– The first Constitution of the RSFSR (Article 6, Chapter III, which declares the freedom of self-determination of Armenia), July 10, 1918;

– The decision of the Supreme Council of the Allied Nations during the Paris Conference on de facto recognition of the independence of the State of Armenia dated January 19, 1920;

– The decision of the Supreme Council of the Allied Nations on de jure recognition of the independence of the State of Armenia dated May 11, 1920;

– Declaration of Independence of Armenian Cilicia dated August 4, 1920;

– Discussion of the Armenian mandate held in the US Senate on May 29 – June 1, 1920, which means that the USA de facto recognized the right and title of the Armenian Statein relation to the Armenian territories, thereby invalidating the right and title of the Ottoman Empire (and its successor – the Republic of Turkey) in relation to these territories;

– Sevres Peace Treaty (articles 88 – 93 which concerned the State of Armenia) dated August 10, 1920;

– The first international Treaty between the Main Allied Powers and the State of Armenia on national Minorities and trade relations “The Treaty between the Main Allied Powers and Armenia, signed in Sevres on August 10, 1920” (Annex to Article 93 of the Treaty of Sevres)․ The agreement was signed by Avetis Aharonian, Chairman of the Delegation of the Republic of Armenia, and Pogos Nubar, Representative of the United Armenian Council in Constantinople.

– The Arbitral Award of the 28th President of the United States of America Woodrow Wilson of November 22, 1920 the full name of which is «The decision of the President of the United States Woodrow Wilson on the establishment of the State border between Turkey and Armenia, the issue of Armenia’s borders sea access and about the demilitarization of the Turkish territories adjacent to the Armenian border».

IX. Based on the following international documents:

–The United Nations Charter of June 26, 1945;

– The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of December 10, 1948;

– The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Rome, November 4, 1950;

– The UN Convention on the Rights and Duties of States («Montevideo Convention») of December 26, 1933;

– The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of December 9, 1948;

– The UN Convention on the Non-Applicability of the Statute of Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity of November 26, 1968;

– The UN Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples of December 14, 1960;

– The UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of November 20, 1963;

– The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of May 23, 1969;

– The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of September 13, 2007;

– The UN Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace of November 12, 1984;

– The UN Declaration on the Right to Development of December 4, 1986;

– The UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities of December 18, 1992;

– The UN Declaration on the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels of September 24, 2012;

– Declaration on principles of international law concerning friendly relations and cooperation among states in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations adopted by the UN General Assembly of October 24, 1970.

X. Based on the following decisions taken by the Republic of Western Armenia (State of Armenia): 

– Decisions on the formation of the Institute of national identity and citizenship of Armenians of Western Armenia adopted on the basis of the United Nations Declaration “On the rights of indigenous peoples” of September 13, 2007;

– Declaration of the National Council of Armenians of Western Armenia «On the right of self-determination of Armenians of Western Armenia», Shushi of December 17, 2004;

– Declaration of the National Council of Western Armenia «On the beginning of Government formation of Western Armenia in Exile» of February 04, 2011;

– Declaration of the National Council of Armenians of Western Armenia and the Government of Western Armenia in exile «On the formation of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia» of May 24, 2013;

– The Law of the Republic of Western Armenia «On the State structure of Western Armenia, status of deputies of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia and the rule of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia» of January 21, 2014;

– Presidential Decree of the Republic of Western Armenia (State of Armenia) No. 12 «The Republic of Western Armenia as a Continuity State», – about  the Republic of Western Armenia as a continuity State of Armenian State recognized in 1920, of February 23, 2014;

– The decision of the National Council of Armenians of Western Armenia «On the permanent, armed and positive neutrality of the Armenians of Western Armenia and Western Armenia itself» of March 29, 2011;

– The National Council Decree of Armenians of Western Armenia «On the establishment of self-defence forces of Armenians of Western Armenia» of December 26, 2012;

– The Decision of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia «On the Formation of the Defence Forces of Armenians of Western Armenia» of January 10, 2018.

XI. Taking into account the political and legal basis for the formation of the Republic of Western Armenia (State of Armenia) 

  1.  Based on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of September 13, 2007, the National Identity and Citizenship Institute of Armenians of Western Armenia was established and the legal and political basis of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) and its state structures were absolutely legitimately formed;
  2.  In accordance with the Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights since 2013 the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) has formed absolutely legitimate bodies of State power – the National Assembly (Parliament), the Government and the Institute of Presidency;
  3.  In November 2013 for the first time in the world elections of the deputies of the Parliament of Western Armenia were held by direct electronic voting on the Internet which were conducted under universal and equal suffrage by free and secret ballot. Elections were held in 41 countries, 64 deputies of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia were elected.

On September 1-5, 2018, elections of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia of the 2nd        convocation were held, in which 51,505 voters from 47 countries took part, and 101 deputies were  elected on a single list;

4. The Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) by adopting the relevant Laws, recognized, acceded and ratified the Charter of the United Nations and 45 most important International Treaties, Conventions and Declarations.

5. Currently, Radik Khamoyan is the President of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia), Tigran Pashabezyan is the Prime Minister, and Armen Ter-Sarkisyan is the President of the National Assembly (Parliament).

XII. Taking into account the following Statements submitted by the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) to the United Nations: 

  1.  Application of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) “On the membership of the Republic of Western Armenia (State of Armenia) in the United Nations”. (May 25, 2018).
  2.  Statement of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) to the UN “On the execution and implementation of the Arbitral Award of the 28th President of the United States of America Woodrow Wilson of November 22, 1920, which full name is “the Decision of the President of the United States Woodrow Wilson on the establishment of the state border between Turkey and Armenia, on access of Armenia’s borders to the sea and the demilitarization of the Turkish territories adjacent to the Armenian border. (May 29, 2018)
  3.  Statement of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) to the UN “On demilitarization of Western Armenia and Cilicia, withdrawal of occupation troops of the Republic of Turkey from these territories”, according to the Arbitral Award of the 28th President of the United States Woodrow Wilson. (November 20, 2018).
  4.  Statement of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) to the UN “On the demarcation of the border between the State of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan”, for the delimitation and demarcation of the border between the State of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, based on the principles and provisions of the Proposal Report of the Special Commission on Boundary Determination of Armenia of the Paris Peace Conference of February 24, 1920. (August 7, 2019).
  5.  Statement of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) to the European Parliament “On the errors, omissions and unacceptable wording contained in the Resolution of the European Parliament “On the political solution of the Armenian Question” of June 18, 1987, and on the need to amend and re-edit it”. (December 5, 2020).
  6.  Statement of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) to the UN – Declaration “On the Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) and the State Border with the Republic of Turkey”. (May 15, 2022).

These Statements in fact relate to the decisions already taken by the international community regarding the rights of the Armenian people but have not been implemented yet.

XIII. This statement in no way concerns the issue of a claim for compensation for damage caused to the Armenian people and Armenia as a result of the Armenian Genocide, and not only material.

 1) In the issue of full compensation, it is necessary to take into account the crimes committed by successive Turkish governments against the Armenian people in 1894-1896, 1909, 1915-1918, 1919-1923 and continuing until today presented in the chapter IV of this statement, as well as the crimes committed by successive governments of Azerbaijan against the Armenian people in 1905-1906, 1918-1920, 1921-1987, 1988-2022 and continuing until today presented in the chapter V.

2) The damage caused to the Armenian people and Armenia as a result of the crimes of the successive governments of Turkey and Azerbaijan, presented in the above-mentioned chapters, and not only the material losses of the urban and rural population, but also the losses of the Armenian people not mentioned in this statement: human losses as a result of the Genocide, forced deportation and Islamization, including children and women, the loss of their homeland – Patriocide, loss of the area of the Armenian people, economic losses, loss of bank deposits and jewelry, insurance premiums, intangible assets, intellectual property, objects of historical, cultural, archaeological, architectural and church heritage, learning and educational institutions, world and national cultural values and other losses of the Armenian people.

3) A discount is currently being made on certain and approved damages indicated in the report of the Special Committee acting as the part of the Special Commission on Reparations of the Paris Peace Conference.

4) It is necessary to carry out a qualimetric re-assessment of the calculation in accordance with the current procedure and standards, since according to the calculations and definition of the professional community expert-appraisers, collected by Charlie Chaplin in the 1920s throughout Europe and donated to help Armenian orphans who fled the Ottoman Empire from the Armenian Genocide of 1915, 1 million US dollars currently amounts to 15 million US dollars (i.e. discount 15 times), or according to an independent professional assessment, the replacement value of the property of the Romanov family of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II in 1917 currently a discount of 15 times.

5) Consequently, the obligations on reparations of the Republic of Turkey as the successor of the Ottoman Empire in relation to the Armenian people amounts to 19.130.982,000 French francs in 1919 prices, according to the report and calculations of the Special Committee acting as the  part of the Special Commission on Reparations of the Paris Peace Conference, submitted on April 14, 1919, today amounts to 286,964,730,000 euros euros (or 312,791,555,700 US dollars).

6) At the initiative of the Special Commission of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia on restitution and reparations issues in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide, the International Independent Expert and Legal Center for reparations and restitutions (full name is “the International Independent Expert and Legal Center for Accounting, Analysis, Inventory, Audit, Qualimetric Assessment and Forensic examination of Material and Intangible Losses as a result of the Armenian Genocide for reparations and restitutions”) carries out a qualimetric assessment of the full replacement value of tangible and intangible property and lost benefits of the Armenian people in the territory of the Ottoman Empire, including separately – Western Armenia, Cilicia, Nakhichevan, Artsakh and the Western Caspian region for reparations, restitutions and indemnity after 1919. for the last more than 100 years in peacetime, from military operations, terrorism, blockade, reservation of the Armenian people.

7) Currently, the losses indicated in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Chapter XIII are being qualimetrically assessed and a statement with the appropriate report and expert opinion of the professional international community for comprehensive reparation and restitution will be submitted to you and the relevant international structures in the near future.

XIV. Bearing in mind the comprehensive rights of the Armenian people in the world, according to which: 

–  Armenians of Western Armenia like any nation in the world have the right to live, develop and have their future which means that they have the right to demand the establishment of their own State on their ancestral homeland – in the Armenian Highland, in Armenia;

– Armenians of Western Armenia and the State structures of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia), acting as the continuity State of the State of Armenia recognized de facto and de jure in 1920. declare that they undertake to protect the rights granted to the Armenian people by the Sevres peace Treaty and the Arbitration Award of the 28th President of the United States of America Woodrow Wilson, and to implement these rights, including the demarcation of the border between the State of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

We appeal to you with a request to study and implement the process of compensating for the material losses suffered by the Armenian people during the First World War,

Taking into account the reparation obligations of the Republic of Turkey as the legal successor of the Ottoman Empire in relation to the Armenian people,

which amounts to 19.130.982.000 francs, according to the report and calculations of the Special Committee acting as the  part of the Special Commission for Reparations of the Paris Peace Conference, presented on April 14, 1919.

We ask you to initiate a qualimetric reassessment of the calculation in accordance with the current procedure and standards, since according to calculations and determinations by expert-appraisers of the professional international community, the discount is currently 15 times.

Consequently, the reparations obligations of the Republic of Turkey, as the legal successor of the Ottoman Empire, towards the Armenian people, currently amounts to 286,964,730,000 euros (or 312,791,555,700 US dollars).

To carry out reparations to the affected parties: the Armenians of Western Armenia (Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) and the Armenians of Eastern Armenia (the Republic of Armenia), sending them to the appropriate national-state structures.

XV. Solution on this Statement:

«On compensation of material losses suffered by the Armenian people during the First World War » was adopted on September 24, 2022 at the joint session of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia and the Government of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia).

XVI. We also inform that we are ready to provide with

 1) additional information and documents you will need regarding this Statement;

2) an authorized representative of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia) for direct contacts and discussions if it is necessary.

Radik Khamoyan
President of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia)

Tigran Pashabezyan
Prime Minister of the Republic of Western Armenia (the State of Armenia)

Armen Ter-Sarkisyan
President of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia

September 25, 2022

 

 

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