January 23, 2004

Lawsuit by Turks Against Armenians Dismissed

San Francisco, CA, Jan. 23, 2004 – A San Francisco court dismissed a lawsuit today filed by two Turkish organizations and Turkey's Consul General to San Francisco against the Bay Area Armenian-American community.  The plaintiffs had called for the removal of a plaque in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide at the foot of Mt. Davidson Cross following the purchase of the cross site Armenian-Americans.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Paul Alvarado held in favor of the defendants' motion to dismiss the case, based on the so-called "SLAPP" statute protecting free speech.  The SLAPP law requires plaintiffs in such cases to show a probability of success in order for the case to proceed, so that the mere filing of the lawsuit does not result in the suppression of free speech.  

The defendants, the Council of Armenian-American Organizations of Northern California were represented by David Balabanian, Geoffrey Holtz and Matthew Grey of the San Francisco law firm Bingham McCutchen.  Plaintiffs were represented by attorneys Richard Carlston and Christopher Doyle of the Walnut Creek law firm of Miller, Starr and Regalia.

Judge Alvarado’s ruling resulted in the dismissal of the third lawsuit involving the Mt. Davidson Cross since the 1990’s.  After a prior court battle, in which plaintiffs claimed San Francisco had violated the constitutional principle of the separation of church and state by maintaining the cross in a public park, a settlement was reached in 1997 whereby the land on which the cross rests would be sold at auction. A coalition of 32 Bay Area Armenian-American organizations won the auction, and the transfer of the land was later approved by a wide margin of San Francisco voters. After court appeals contesting the validity of the auction, the Supreme Court denied a hearing of the case in April, 2003, letting stand the previous ruling validating the sale of the site.

The complaint by the Turkish American Alliance for Fairness, the Turkish American Association of California, and Bonnie Joy Kaslan, the Consul General of Turkey for San Francisco and resident of Sonoma, sought the removal of a plaque at the foot of the cross, placed in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.  The suit alleged the plaque violated the city deed requirement prohibiting the placement of a "structure" or "sign" on the land.  City officials have said that the intent of the deed restriction was to preserve the natural environment and avoid commercialization of the property. Mt. Davidson Cross is open to the public and is surrounded by Mt. Davidson Park.

Balabanian, representing the defendants, argued in court today that the true intent of the plaintiffs was to stop Armenian-Americans from commemorating their dead.

In 1997, Turkish groups actively opposed the acquisition of Mt. Davidson Cross by the Council of Armenian American Organizations of Northern California, conducting a protest campaign to city officials and urging San Francisco neighborhood and political groups to reject the ballot measure.  Armenian-Americans said they wanted to purchase the cross because, as the first nation to have accepted Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD, and as thankful refugees who first came to San Francisco to escape the Armenian Genocide, they wanted to save the historic city landmark from demolition, while at the same time use the site as a gathering place to remember their forefathers.  Voter-approval of the sale of the property was necessary since the site was part of a city park, and the ballot measure passed with 68% in favor.

The Turkish opposition to the memorial plaque is part of a broad campaign to oppose any public acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide, which is officially denied by the Turkish government, the successor of the Ottoman Empire. The 1915 event is considered by historians as the first genocide of the 20th century and the most significant human rights crisis of WWI, during which the Ottoman government systematically carried out the extermination of 1,500,000 Armenians, more than half of the Armenian population living on its historic homeland. The overwhelming majority of Armenian-Americans living in San Francisco and the United States are descendants of genocide survivors.

Successive Turkish governments have lobbied against the passage of local, state, and congressional resolutions commemorating the Armenian Genocide, inclusion of the history of the Armenian genocide in school curriculum, and plans to produce films about the genocide.

The plaque, which the lawsuit sought to remove, lays flat on the ground at the base of the 103-foot cross. It was unveiled during a public event in 1998 by Mayor Willie Brown and several Armenian Genocide survivors.  It reads: 

"The Mt. Davidson Cross was designed and built by George Kelham and inaugurated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934.  In 1997, the citizens of San Francisco voted to approve the sale of the monument to the Council of Armenian-American Organizations of Northern California, to preserve it as a historic landmark.

This revered site is cared for in memory of the 1,500,000 victims of the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Turkish government from 1915 to 1918. Over half of the Armenian population on its ancient homeland was killed, and no Armenian community remained in historical western Armenia.

By honoring those lost, we honor all victims of injustice and cruelty. In their name we dedicate ourselves to the protection of human rights and the dignity of all peoples.

If evil of this magnitude can be ignored,
if our own children forget;
then we deserve oblivion,
and earn the world's scorn.
Avedis Aharonian
(writer and educator, 1866-1948)

Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day April 24, 1998"