Economic-legal perspectives on the Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide of 1915, while causing substantial loss of life, also had enormous economic consequences. Important new scholarship has established that depriving Armenians of their homes, businesses, and personal effects was a means of ensuring their removal from Turkey. The findings establish that Armenian property was then misappropriated to benefit Turkey. The economic harm continues today, largely unmitigated. Mere economic loss due to State action, alone, is difficult to fit within the accepted definition of genocide. Yet, the mass killings and deportations surrounding the property losses make the economic harm legally relevant. Further, the economic dimension has significance, the genocide aside. Claims for reparation, which arise out of contract and property law, are the most viable legal option for many of the heirs of the Armenians. Pursuing claims, however, is costly and time-consuming. Ideally, the significance of the claims and the difficulties of a piece-meal approach to resolving them could lead to an international claims settlement process for the benefit of the affected Armenians.