Politics 12:40 15/03/2011

Lawsuit against U.S. Federal Reserve seeks Armenian gold looted by Turkey

Author By Harut Sassounian Publisher, The California Courier

 The Glendale-based nonprofit Center for Armenian Remembrance (CAR) sued the U.S. Federal Reserve on March 4, seeking information on its acquisition of a large amount of Armenian gold looted by the Ottoman government in 1915.

CAR filed the lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act. The gold, originally valued at five million Turkish Gold Liras ($22 million dollars), is now estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently claimed that they have no records of any Armenian gold in their possession.

It was not easy to trace the circumstances under which the Armenian-owned gold was transferred from Istanbul to the United States almost a century ago. The results of our research on the convoluted series of transactions are summarized below:

 

The Ottoman government had seized the gold and other valuables belonging to Armenians deported and killed in the 1915 genocide, expropriating their bank accounts and safe deposit boxes. The Ottoman Liquidation Commission used a complex set of bank transfers to hide the trail of this "blood money." The Turkish Treasury placed the looted Armenian gold initially in the German Deutschebank in Istanbul. In 1916, the gold was transferred to the Bleichroeder Bank in Vienna, and from there moved to the Reichsbank (German Central Bank) in Berlin, and deposited in the account of Ottoman Public Debt.

At the end of World War I, when the Allied Powers demanded reparations from Germany and its Ottoman Turkish ally, German officials had no choice but to comply with that request, agreeing to turn over to the Allies the Armenian gold held by the Reichsbank. Accordingly, the expropriated Armenian gold was transferred to France and Great Britain in 1921.

A subsequent British document confirms the true ownership of this gold. On September 26 1924, leaders of the two main opposition parties in Great Britain, Liberal Party leader and former Prime Minister H.H. Asquith and Conservative Party leader and future Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald pleading for British assistance to Armenians in view of their support for the Allied cause and the great suffering they endured during World War I. The two British leaders argued that "the sum of 5 million pounds (Turkish gold) deposited by the Turkish Government in Berlin in 1916, and taken over by the Allies after the Armistice, was in large part (perhaps wholly) Armenian money. After the enforced deportation of the Armenians in 1915, their bank accounts, both current and deposit, were transferred by order to the State Treasury at Constantinople. This fact enabled the Turks to send five million sterling to the Reichsbank, Berlin, in exchange for a new issue of notes."

Subsequently, instead of returning the Armenian gold to its original owners, Britain and France sold it to the United States Government through J.P. Morgan Bank in Paris, by exchanging it for U.S. Treasury Certificates.

On January 29, 1925, Senator William H. King submitted resolution 319 to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee demanding that the looted gold be “set aside in trust” for Armenians. The resolution stated: "The Turkish Government had arbitrarily seized and transferred to the Turkish treasury all bank accounts, both current and deposit, belonging to Armenians, by which Armenian gold in the sum of 5 million Turkish pounds, amounting to $22,450,000, was transferred to the Turkish treasury, which gold was afterwards deposited by the Turkish Government in the Reichsbank at Berlin…. Said deposit of Armenian gold in the Reichsbank at Berlin was by article 259 of the Treaty of Versailles transferred and surrendered to the principal allied and associated powers, including the United States…. Said deposit in equity and right belongs to the Armenians from whom the same was seized, or to their legal representatives…. Said deposit should be set aside in trust to be hereafter paid over to the persons from whom said gold was seized, or to their lawful representatives…."

This gold is just a small portion of the billions of dollars of Armenian assets stolen by Turkey and various other countries during and after the Armenian Genocide. The restitution of all looted Armenian assets, wherever they may be, should be one of the highest priorities for those pursuing justice for the horrendous crimes committed against the Armenian nation.



Source Panorama.am
Share |
Տեքստում սխալ կամ վրիպակ նկատելու դեպքում, ուղարկեք խմբագրին հաղորդագրություն` նշելով տվյալ սխալը, այնուհետև սեղմելով Ctrl-Enter:

Newsfeed

17:13
Andre's wife shares first photos with baby amid divorce rumors
Armenian musician Andre’s wife, singer Ani Ohanyan, has shared the first photos of their baby daughter on social media. The photos...
16:45
Azerbaijan declares December 26 day of mourning after plane crash
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared December 26 a day of mourning following a deadly crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane,...
16:22
Pashinyan says again tested positive for Covid
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has again tested positive for Covid-19.  “My Covid test again came back positive. I'll be...
15:45
Turkey plans to open consulate in Aleppo
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday announced that his country will open its Aleppo consulate soon, less than two weeks after...
15:35
Yerevan to see light snow later this week
Dry weather is expected in Armenia's regions on Wednesday and Thursday. Wintry showers are forecast for the country on Friday and over...
14:53
Opposition MP: Pashinyan preparing to fulfil more Azerbaijani demands
Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a senior member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and an opposition Hayastan faction MP, accused Armenian...
13:59
Pashinyan offers condolences to families of Azerbaijani plane crash victims
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has extended condolences to the families of the Azerbaijani passenger jet crash victims....
13:36
Kremlin hopes Pashinyan will join EAEU summit via video link
Russia hopes that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will participate in the upcoming meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic...
13:23
28 people survive Azerbaijani jet crash in Kazakhstan
An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet with 67 people on board crashed on Wednesday in western Kazakhstan after veering from its scheduled route,...
13:05
Finance minister: Armenia's public debt expected to reach 50% of GDP in 2024
Armenia’s public debt is expected to amount to approximately 50% of GDP by the end of 2024, with an economic growth...
12:35
MP calls out Pashinyan government's failure to handle security challenges
Opposition lawmaker Tigran Abrahamyan criticized Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government for mishandling national security...
12:06
Syria's new FM tells Iran not to spread chaos in Syria
Syria's newly appointed foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, told Iran on Tuesday not to spread chaos in Syria but to respect the...
11:55
Aliyevs own many buildings in London valued at hundreds of millions of dollars
By Harut Sassounian TheCaliforniaCourier.com The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) selected Pres. Ilham Aliyev in...
11:41
Black ice warning issued for drivers in Armenia's Syunik
The Rescue Service has warned drivers about a road closure in Armenia on Wednesday morning. In particular, the road linking the Amberd high...
11:32
Pashinyan to skip informal CIS summit due to Covid
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced his decision to skip the informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent...
11:10
U.S. responds to Aliyev’s allegations about arms supplies to Armenia
U.S. military assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be used for “offensive purposes,” the State Department said on Tuesday,...
17:00
No Putin-Pashinyan meeting planned in St. Petersburg – Kremlin
A separate meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is not planned on the sidelines of the...
16:45
Blast at Turkey ammunition factory kills at least 12 people
An explosion at an ammunition and explosives factory in north-west Turkey has killed at least 12 people and injured four others, BBC News...
16:35
Best Armenian athletes of the year revealed
Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports has named the best athletes of the year. The winners have been selected...
15:54
'We only need a competent leader': Armenians deplore plans to reduce working hours
Armenia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has proposed reducing working hours from eight to seven hours per day, which would not...
15:06
Putin to attend EAEU meeting chaired by Pashinyan
Russian President Vladimir Putin has left for St. Petersburg, where he will hold meetings with CIS heads of state and government in the coming...
14:23
Ex-ombudsman: Pashinyan's team using 'peace' propaganda to stay in power
The leaders of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party has transformed the “peace” propaganda into...
13:30
Russian cargo ship sinks in Mediterranean after explosion
A Russian cargo ship has sunk in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria after an explosion in its engine room, the Guardian reported on...
13:19
Yerevan City Council member resigns
Areg Gevorgyan has stepped down as a member of the Yerevan City Council representing the ruling Civil Contract faction. At a meeting of the...
12:42
Income-earning jobs amounted to 782,832 in Armenia in November
According to the income tax and social payment declarations submitted by taxpayers for November 2024, the number of income-generating jobs...
12:16
Opposition MP: Pashinyan's comments confirm Artsakh issue remains unresolved
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s latest comments on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) confirm that the Artsakh issue remains unresolved,...
11:35
Kremlin denies reports Bashar al-Assad's wife is seeking divorce
The British-born wife of deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is not seeking a divorce, a Kremlin spokesman has said. Reports in Turkish...
11:15
Authorities warn of black ice on Syunik roads
The Rescue Service has warned drivers about a road closure in Armenia on Tuesday morning. In particular, the road linking the Amberd...
11:03
Armenian church commemorates St. Stephen the Protomartyr
The Armenian Apostolic Church on Tuesday commemorates St. Stephen, the first deacon and proto martyr. After Christ’s ascension,...
17:00
Artur Vanetsyan to be a guest on Imnemnimi podcast on December 25
Artur Vanetsyan, the leader of the Homeland Party and the former director of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), will be a guest on...

Follow us and get updates!

Most popular articles

{"core.blocks.header.spell_message1":"Selected mistake: ","core.blocks.header.spell_message2":"Send a message about the mistake?"}