Armenian Groups Are Increasingly Focused on Reparations for Genocide

 Rick Gladstone

Behind the Turkish government’s denials of the century-old Armenian genocide lurks the possibility that survivors and their descendants could be deemed legally entitled someday to financial reparations, perhaps worth tens of billions of dollars or more.

The Turkish authorities take the position that there is nothing that needs to be repaid. Moreover, no judicial mechanism exists in which claims of such magnitude, from events 100 years ago, could be litigated. But Armenian activists have nonetheless increasingly focused on the issue of compensation in recent years.

Groundbreaking Report on Armenian Genocide Reparations Published

The Armenian Genocide Reparations Study Group (AGRSG) recently completed its final report, titled, “Resolution with Justice: Reparations for the Armenian Genocide.” The report offers an unprecedented and comprehensive analysis of the legal, historical, political, and ethical dimensions of the question of reparations for the Armenian genocide of 1915-23, including specific recommendations for the components of a complete reparations package.

Prior to the formation of the AGRSG, the limited discourse on reparations for the genocide included abstract notions of territorial return, consideration of particular aspects such as insurance lawsuits, and sometimes valuable short works treating the issue, but all without comprehensive or detailed analysis.