By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courierwww.TheCaliforniaCourier.comWith each passing day, Turkish President Erdogan is becoming increasingly dictatorial. The arrest of 11 members of the opposition pro-Kurdish party, HDP, is the latest in a long string of Erdogan’s dictatorial policies.Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote a devastating exposé on Erdogan last week, listing some of his scandalous actions!I have summarized ...

By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courierwww.TheCaliforniaCourier.comThe whole world is following with great interest the flood of internal emails released by WikiLeaks: over 400,000 emails of the Turkish ruling party (AKP), 2.8 million U.S. diplomatic emails, over 30,000 emails sent or received by Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State, and 27,000 emails and attachments hacked from the Democratic National Committee.

By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courierwww.TheCaliforniaCourier.comBoth Houses of the French Legislature have once again adopted a law that penalizes the denial of genocides recognized by French or international courts, or the denial, minimization or extreme trivialization of other genocides or Crimes Against Humanity, if accompanied by incitement to violence or hatred. The French Senate approved the new law by a vote of 156 to 146 on October 14, following the Parliament’s approval by ...

By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courierwww.TheCaliforniaCourier.comThere is widespread dissatisfaction and mistrust among the American public toward the two main presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Armenian-Americans likewise are negatively disposed toward these candidates. More specifically, on Armenian issues Mrs. Clinton has shown that she cannot be trusted, while Donald Trump’s position is unknown.

By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courierwww.TheCaliforniaCourier.comNot everyone agrees whether Diaspora Armenians should meddle in the Armenia Republic’s internal affairs. Perhaps ‘meddle’ is not the right word, but getting involved and caring deeply about developments in the homeland should be of great interest to all Armenians, since that is their country of origin.

By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courierwww.TheCaliforniaCourier.comThis column is mostly intended for readers outside the United States who may not be familiar with U.S. campaign contribution laws. Interestingly, even Americans are often confused about the complex regulations regarding limits of political contributions that are different in local, state and federal elections.

By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courierwww.TheCaliforniaCourier.comSyria has been the hub of shifting international military and political intrigues since the start of the ‘civil war’ in 2011. The diverse conflicting sides include: Hezbollah, Iran, Islamic State (ISIS), Israel, Jordan, Kurdish fighters, Lebanon, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, assorted terrorists from around the world, Syria, Syrian opposition groups, Turkey, the United States, and other NATO states.

By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courierwww.TheCaliforniaCourier.comOn July 13, two days before the coup attempt in Turkey, Prof. Halil Berktay of Istanbul’s Sabanci University answered six written questions on the Armenian Genocide posed by El Pais, Spain’s largest newspaper. But when El Pais did not publish his answers, Dr. Berktay decided on August 15 to post his interview on a Turkish website, Serbestiyet, under the title: “With or without the coup, genocide was and is genocide.”

By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courierwww.TheCaliforniaCourier.comThe United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments in Pasadena, California, on August 4, regarding two lawsuits on Armenian properties confiscated by Turkey in 1915-23: Bakalian and Davoyan vs. the Republic of Turkey and its Central and Ziraat Banks. A District Court had dismissed these lawsuits in 2013 on grounds that they dealt with a political issue which came under the purview of elected ...

By Harut SassounianPublisher, The California Courierwww.TheCaliforniaCourier.comNow that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have selected their vice presidential candidates, Armenian Democrats are claiming that Sen. Tim Kaine has the better record on recognition of the Armenian Genocide, while Republican Armenians are insisting that Gov. Mike Pence is the clear-cut favorite on this issue. The more important question is: does it really matter?