Recognition of the Armenian Holocaust and Its Legal Implications — 100 years later

Abstract

This paper deals with the issue of genocidal intent to the massacres in Anatolia during World War I. The available evidence indicates that the Ottoman Government was guilty of orchestrating a crime of genocide, as later defined by the United Nations Convention on the subject. On the other hand, due to legal norms of prescription, it is not possible anymore to apply principles of state responsibility to the Republic of Turkey. Thus, there is no legal duty to pay compensation today. However, it would be possible to require restitution of illegally seized property. The post-1915 possession of such property could be seen as a continuous violation of law that would make the norm of prescription irrelevant. As to ex gratia compensation and reconciliation, a way forward in future negotiations could be to replace the sensitive label of genocide (“the G-word”) with the concept of crimes against humanity.