What is more amazing than this is the fact that the Gaziantep court has recognized Ahmet Karadağ as a plaintiff in this case and sent the motion to all five defendants, including Sarkozy. Here are the “substantial” arguments put forward by the plaintiff in this court case:
“Akıncı village, formerly known as Seve, where the grandfather of the complainant, the father of his grandfather and other relatives used to live, was destroyed by French troops during the French occupation. Pregnant women were killed. Eighty-five people, including Mustafa Efendi, the father of his grandfather, were murdered in this village alone. Armenian gangs aided the French troops. During this period, three-and-a-half kilograms of gold belonging to Mustafa Efendi was seized by the French troops and Armenian gangs. In addition, hundreds of cattle and livestock were confiscated. Their valuables were robbed by the French troops. Due to these unjust aggressions and genocide, my client, Ahmet Karadağ, and other family members suffered extensively and have led a miserable life in the aftermath; as a result, they remained in poverty for years (Exhibit 1 witnesses).
Subsequent careful review by the court of the exhibits and evidence affixed and those others that I will present, as well as the well-known historical documents and archives at the Turkish Historical Association (Exhibit 2), and books of scholarly value (Exhibit 3) and documents, it will become evident that the complainant and his relatives suffered from the brutal attacks by the French army and their Armenian accomplices in Antep, Maraş and Urfa, where more than 70,000 Turks were murdered, thousands of others were tortured or wounded and their properties plundered. As a result of this inhumane practice of France out of its colonialist and expansionist tendencies, which appears to be a third party that shares no border with Turkey, my client and his family suffered and were hurt.
For these reasons, while the magnitude of the loss and disruption caused by these practices is huge and almost irreparable, the complainant asks 45,000 euros in material compensation and 5,000 euros in moral compensation as a symbolic gesture, as spelled out in the French genocide denial bill.
In addition, even though a long time has passed since the incident, there is no statute of limitations for crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide. Moreover, the genocide denial bill adopted in the French parliament is dated back, therefore it is not possible to claim invalidity based on statute of limitations. For this reason, this is inapplicable to our case considering the rules of international law and the principle of reciprocity.”
To be honest I do not care about Sarkozy but I am really concerned about the situation of poor Armenian foundations. I do not want to think this alternative but if this case progresses, it could be followed by many others, which would spell a kind of legal lynching for Armenian foundations. I hope it will remain at this stage.
I will keep an eye on this case and keep you informed about the future developments.
