Harut Sassounian is the publisher of The California Courier, a weekly newspaper based in Glendale, California. His editorials dealing with political analysis on international affairs are reprinted in scores of U.S. and overseas publications.

He is the Founder and President of the United Armenian Fund, a coalition of the seven largest Armenian-American charitable and religious organizations. The U.A.F. has supplied $550 million of humanitarian assistance to Armenia on board 150 airlifts and 1,550 sea containers since the 1988 earthquake.

As the Senior Vice President of Kirk Kerkorian’s Lincy Foundation, he oversaw the implementation of $210 million of infrastructure-related projects in Armenia, including the construction of 3,674 apartments, bridges, tunnels, highways, and city streets, and the renovation of 10 schools and 34 cultural institutions, as well as providing $20 million of loans to small and medium-size businesses.

He was employed by Procter & Gamble in Geneva, Switzerland, as an international marketing executive from 1978 to 1982.

He served for 10 years as a non-governmental delegate on human rights at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. He played a leading role in the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the UN Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in 1985.

He has a Master's Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

His most recent book, “The Armenian Genocide: The World Speaks Out, 1915-2005, Documents & Declarations,” was published in April, 2005. The Arabic translation of his book was published in Lebanon. French, Spanish, Russian, Armenian, and Turkish translations are planned.

Blog Entries by Harut Sassounian

Obama Should Forfeit his Nobel Prize

1 Comments | Posted December 8, 2009 | 06:34 PM (EST)


In a recent letter to Armenian American organizations, Pres. Obama once again played shameful word games with the term genocide. At this point, one has to be incredibly naïve to believe that he is going to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide during the rest of his term in office.

During the...

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Internal Documents Reveal UK Officials Misled Parliament on Armenian Genocide

Posted November 4, 2009 | 06:46 PM (EST)


A prominent legal expert, Mr. Geoffrey Robertson, exposed this week the false and inaccurate statements on the Armenian Genocide made by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). The international jurist revealed that for many years the FCO (Foreign Ministry) had misled the British Parliament on the facts of the...

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Turkey Exposed: Cannot Pretend to be Both Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israeli

Posted October 20, 2009 | 05:12 PM (EST)


Playing the skillful political games of their Ottoman predecessors, Turkey's current masters present their country under various guises -- as European and Middle Eastern, Islamic and secular, pro-Arab and pro-Israeli.

It now appears that the end is near for at least one of these Turkish charades. Israeli officials have finally...

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Who Will Blink First, Armenia or Turkey?

5 Comments | Posted September 12, 2009 | 04:40 PM (EST)


After months of rampant rumors and news leaks, the Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Turkey, with Switzerland as mediator, issued a joint statement on August 31, making public the text of two protocols intended to regulate their problematic relationship.

In a previous joint statement released on April 22, Armenian and...

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German Scholar Exposes Turkish Propaganda about Jews

Posted June 4, 2009 | 12:21 PM (EST)


For many years, the Turkish government and its hired propagandists have claimed that Jews have been well treated in Turkey throughout history.

In recent years, as Turkey came under intense international pressure to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, Turkish officials decided to present a more positive image of their country by...

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Turkish Prime Minister Admits Ethnic Cleansing

2 Comments | Posted May 28, 2009 | 02:22 PM (EST)


In a daring statement, Turkish Prime Minister Rejeb Erdogan admitted for the first time that the expulsion from Turkey of tens of thousands of ethnic Greeks in the last century was a "fascist" act, Reuters reported.

Some commentators viewed Erdogan's remarks as a reference to the expulsion of 1.5 million...

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Germany and Turkey: Similar in Crime; Different in Penance

Posted May 20, 2009 | 06:15 PM (EST)


The Los Angeles Chapter of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) traditionally invites as guests to its "Annual Meeting" (banquet) members of the local consular corps and leaders of various religious and ethnic groups.


On April 22, when I attended AJC's annual gathering, I was surprised to see that the...

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British House of Commons: Demanding Justice For Armenians, Not Just Genocide Recognition

15 Comments | Posted May 20, 2009 | 03:29 PM (EST)


At the invitation of the British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group (BAAPPG), I spoke on May 7 at a special conference on the Armenian Genocide held at the House of Commons, Committee Room 3, the British Parliament, London.

Dr. Israel Charny, Director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem,...

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Et Tu Obama? Letter from a Former Admirer

5 Comments | Posted April 28, 2009 | 04:27 PM (EST)


Mr. President, how could you?

Your candidacy was a breath of fresh air. You stood for change. You made wonderful promises and the Armenian-American community put its trust in you.

We are now terribly disappointed because you acted not much differently than your predecessors on the Armenian Genocide issue. Your...

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Obama Undermines His Credibility by Not Saying "Genocide" in Ankara

Posted April 7, 2009 | 12:08 PM (EST)


For several months now, the Turkish government's has created the false impression that Ankara is engaged in serious negotiations to establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan. Turkey has been exploiting the illusive promise of opening the border in order to pressure Armenia into making concessions on a host of issues, while...

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Turkey's Delay Tactics in Opening the Border with Armenia

Posted March 20, 2009 | 10:27 AM (EST)


While some people are dismissing Pres. Obama's solemn campaign pledge to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, Turkish leaders have taken the president's promise very seriously.

Ankara has dispatched to Washington several high-level delegations, both before and after Obama's inauguration, with the express purpose of lobbying key decision-makers in the White House...

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U.S. Prefers to Leave Iraq Through Jordan and Kuwait, Rather than Turkey

Posted March 5, 2009 | 05:35 PM (EST)


Ever since Pres. Obama declared that he would end America's military presence in Iraq, Turkish officials have been salivating at the opportunity of presenting the United States with a series of demands in return for allowing U.S. troops to leave through Turkey.

As a NATO ally and staunch opponent of...

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Israel vs. Turkey: Escalating Tensions Between Two Strategic Allies

Posted February 17, 2009 | 08:43 PM (EST)


The international media has recently published hundreds of articles reflecting the mounting acrimony between two erstwhile allies: Turkey and Israel. Despite its strategic alliance with Israel, Turkey angered Israeli leaders and American-Jewish organizations by siding with Hamas during last month's Gaza conflict.

Here is a summary of some of the...

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"Obameter" Keeps Track of President's Campaign Promises

Posted February 12, 2009 | 11:34 AM (EST)


All those interested in finding out whether Pres. Barack Obama is keeping the hundreds of promises he made during the presidential campaign now have a simple tool to keep track of them.

A group of journalists, headed by Bill Adair, Washington Bureau Chief of the St. Petersburg...

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Major American-Jewish Organizations may no Longer Back Turkey in Congress

Posted January 29, 2009 | 03:54 PM (EST)


There are serious indications that Israel and American-Jewish organizations are no longer willing to support Turkey's lobbying efforts in Washington.

The dispute between the two strategic allies began with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan harshly denouncing Israel's incursion into Gaza and accusing the Jewish state of committing crimes against humanity....

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System of a Down and Eurovision: False Turkish Claim Exposed

Posted January 23, 2009 | 06:01 PM (EST)


The Turkish media regularly reports false stories and makes exaggerated claims. The latest example of misinformation is the Turkish claim of preventing the participation of the world famous American-Armenian rock band System of a Down (SOAD) in the May 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow.

What are the facts? Last...

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Israel May Retaliate Against Turkey by Recognizing the Armenian Genocide

Posted January 13, 2009 | 06:51 PM (EST)


Enraged by the abrasive tone of Turkey's condemnation of Israel's attack on Gaza, Israeli officials and Turkish analysts are now raising the possibility that Tel Aviv may retaliate either by recognizing the Armenian Genocide or refusing to help Turkey to lobby against a congressional resolution on the genocide.

This unexpected...

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Turkey Could be Major Political Loser in Israel-Gaza Conflict

Posted January 6, 2009 | 05:27 PM (EST)


Turkish diplomats, as far back as the Ottoman Empire, have been masters in the game of playing one major power against another, while pretending to be the best friend of both.

More recently, Turkish officials have worn different masks by representing their nation as being European, Islamic, secular, pro-American, pro-Russian,...

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Bizarre Lawsuit: Batman, Turkey vs. Batman, the Movie

Posted December 23, 2008 | 04:44 PM (EST)


In keeping wth the Holiday Season, I would like to present a rather amusing topic this week, hoping to bring a good cheer to readers' hearts.

Variety magazine and hundreds of media outlets worldwide reported last month that the mayor of Batman, a small city in southeastern Turkey, is planning...

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Turks' Apology for Armenian Genocide: Good First Step, but not Good Enough

Posted December 18, 2008 | 02:35 PM (EST)


The Armenian Genocide issue has been attracting ever-growing attention despite the Turkish government's persistent attempts to suppress its discussion at home and recognition abroad.

During the past week, two public appeals were issued on the Armenian Genocide -- one by Turkish intellectuals and the other by prominent...

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