U.S. citizens Alex Bakallian, Anais Harutiounian and Rita Mahdessian continue to demand through a judicial procedure the land parcels that pertained to their relatives, were seized by the Turkish government between 1915 and 1923 and on which the NATO has built the Injirlik military air base.

According to Turkey’s Agos Armenian Weekly, on 4 August, the Court of Cassation of the State of California held the trial over the case of “Bakalian and Davoian vs. the Republic of Turkey (RT), the RT Central Bank and the Ziraat Bank”, writes ermenihaber.am.

The website reminded that Bakalian, Harutiounian and Mahdessian, who represent the generations of Armenians who were saved during the genocide, had appealed to the territorial court of California back in 2013 with the demand for the nearly 500 dyonum land parcel located in the Injirlik district of Adana and within and outside of the territory of the homonymous military air base exploited by the United States of America that was illegally stolen by the Turkish government.

The lawyers of the Central and Ziraat Banks of the Republic of Turkey, which are a respondent, citing the principle of immunity of sovereignty, demanded that the court annul the claim. At the time, the court had rejected the claim, saying that the issue was of a political nature since it was linked to the genocide and was out of the scope of its powers. The court’s statement also stated that the issue was a matter of discussion for figures selected by the people.

The source reports that if the American court of cassation takes a decision in favor of the Armenians, 13 Armenian Americans will, through a judicial procedure, demand the land parcels that pertained to their ancestors and are also located within the territory of the modern-day military air base.

It is also stated that any link to the Armenian Genocide in the court ruling can also have an impact on Washington DC’s policy on the Armenian Genocide.