Sassounian: FOX-TV Airs Two Interviews on Armenian Genocide

In April, FOX-TV (Los Angeles) invited this writer for a live in-studio interview on the Armenian Genocide for two consecutive days. The first, lasting five minutes, took place on April 24 during the TV station’s evening news program. The second, lasting over six minutes, took place on April 25 during the Good Day LA Show. Below are excerpts from both interviews.

April 24, 2011

FOX-TV: Joining us now is Harut Sassounian, the president of the United Armenian Fund. He’s also publisher of the California Courier, a newspaper here in Southern California, published out of Glendale. It is the 96th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. And it’s also kind of a confusing issue for a lot of us, because Armenian Americans want the president to say, to claim that this was genocide. And yet, you just told me prior to coming on the newscast that really it doesn’t matter whether the president says it or not. Why?

Sassounian: Because we already have another president, Ronald Reagan, 30 years ago in 1981, who issued a presidential proclamation in which he mentioned the words Armenian Genocide. Plus, we have two Congressional resolutions, in 1975 and 1984, commemorating the Armenian Genocide.

FOX-TV: Mr. Sassounian, then one would ask, and people who are not that familiar with the 1915 genocide would say, why are you protesting out in front of the Turkish Consulate?

Sassounian: We are simply protesting to let the president know, and every other politician know, that if you come to us as a candidate and make [empty] promises and later on you get elected with our votes and money, we’re not going to just remain silent, we’re going to express our disagreement, and we’re going to make sure that you’re not re-elected.

FOX-TV: It’s not then good enough to have just the proclamation by President Reagan, to have the Department of Justice write in a 1951 paper that it was genocide. You want that confirmed by the current administration?

Sassounian: It would be nice if they confirm it, but we are trying to send a message to the president and all politicians that if you make a promise to the people, you have to keep your promise. You can’t make a false promise, get their money, get their votes, and then act like nothing happened! They have to pay a price. We have to change the whole political charade in this country where you just lie to the public and get away with it.

FOX-TV: With Turkey being such a strategic ally of the United States, do you expect any president now or after this to come out and say, “The Ottoman Empire committed genocide against Armenians?”

Sassounian: There is a big difference between politics and historical facts. Historical facts do not change with time. If an event happened, it happened. … So our alliances or relationships, good or bad, should not affect the facts of history.

FOX-TV: Yesterday Armenian boxer Vic Darchinyan, on his trunks, when he was in the ring, were in big numerals 1915, and on a sports blog, the blogger said, “In case you haven’t heard about the Armenian Genocide …” and then started to explain it. Does it upset you that so many people outside of Armenian Americans really are ignorant about this?

Sassounian: That doesn’t upset me because most people don’t know much about the world. They don’t follow the news very closely, as some of us do. What upsets me more is when you said at the top of the introduction of this news item “Armenians claim genocide.” Armenians are not the ones claiming genocide. The whole world knows there was a genocide. Hundreds of historians, 43 U.S. states, Congress twice, President Reagan, 25 different countries have passed parliamentary resolutions. Just because Turkey, the successor of the criminal regime, denies it, that doesn’t make it an allegation or a claim. It’s a historical fact. For political reasons, Turks don’t want to face up to their own history.

FOX-TV: And I think that was written, we were reporting that for the purpose of showing the contrast between Armenians and Turks. And yet, your point is well taken. Thank you for the correction.

April 25, 2011

FOX-TV: Yesterday around the world, [there were] commemorations of the Armenian Genocide in 1915—a very controversial historical event—perhaps a million and a half people died or were killed as a result of this. Joining us now is Harut Sassounian. He is the president of the United Armenian Fund and editor of the Armenian newspaper, the California Courier. We do this every year. The issue at stake is that the United States government, this president, the last president, the president before, all ran making big statements saying that the Armenian Genocide will be recognized as a genocide like the Holocaust around World War II. All three presidents run, all three presidents when they get into office, they look at Turkey, an ally we need badly in the Middle East, and they don’t do it.

Sassounian: In general, politicians are all very bad in keeping promises on all subjects. But when it comes to this subject, there’s a little unfortunate situation where people confuse politics with history. You can remain good friends, good allies, with Turkey, but at the same time not change historical facts… So we should not mix up politics and history. We should be truthful about facts, but we can still remain friends, trade, and maintain military relations.

FOX-TV: Let me just play the devil’s advocate, as if I’m representing the president at this point. Yes, that’s true, but where I sit right now, the world where it is, leaves us in a position where we do not want to insult Turkey and they’ve made it very clear to us that they would be deeply insulted.

Sassounian: First of all, this was done by the Ottoman Empire and not the Republic of Turkey, which didn’t exist at the time. Secondly, Germany has no problem acknowledging what the Nazi regime did. There’s no reason why today’s Turkey should not acknowledge what was done by its predecessor…

FOX-TV: Turkey has become more and more important to us as the years go on.

Sassounian: It has become more important and recently it has become a serious problem for us because they’ve become more of a radical Islamic regime; they strengthened their ties with Iran and Syria and various other radical regimes.

FOX-TV: And I believe the administration is afraid of pushing them more into that camp, if they take the step of recognition.

Sassounian: This is the problem because we compromise our principles, our values, because of geopolitical considerations. We have to separate them. We have to say here are the facts, here’s history, here are our values, and you have to live with it. The more we cater to dictators, people who deny the facts of history, the more they’re going to be demanding from us.

FOX-TV: And you know in history the Ottoman Empire, which fell right after that, the Turks say “not a genocide, it’s the fog of war, people died from war, people died from disease, it wasn’t planned, so therefore it wasn’t a genocide,” and you say…

Sassounian: There are hundreds of historians, experts on the Holocaust and the genocide, who have signed a unanimous letter saying it was genocide. We have court cases, we have the United Nations, we have the European Parliament that recognized the genocide, so many countries, U.S. states, and President Reagan himself said it was genocide.

FOX-TV: I know you want recognition—there has been some—but maybe not enough. What else is it that you would want?

Sassounian: In fact, what we want is not really recognition, because from my point of view the world knows it was genocide. Some people don’t want to say it publicly. But what we really want is…we lost a lot beyond the people who were killed—we lost our culture, our churches, our lands, and our personal properties. Every Armenian had houses, farms, properties, and bank accounts. We’ve lost all of that. So my intent is to go to court, the World Court, the European Court, and U.S. federal courts. We want Turks to pay reparations, restitution, and bring justice back for this massive crime they’ve committed. That’s much more important to us than the lip service that any politician would pay to us.

FOX-TV: The fact that there isn’t that one level of official recognition keeps this topic very fresh. And to some extent there’s an advantage to that because we’re still talking about it all the time.

Sassounian: You’re absolutely correct… Let’s forget about President Obama for a second. Even if the president of Turkey tomorrow morning would say it was genocide, most people around the world and maybe even some Armenians would say that we finally reached our objective, let’s move on. So maybe it’s a good thing that the Turks keep denying it.

Harut Sassounian

Harut Sassounian

California Courier Editor
Harut Sassounian is the publisher of The California Courier, a weekly newspaper based in Glendale, Calif. He is the president of the Armenia Artsakh Fund, a non-profit organization that has donated to Armenia and Artsakh one billion dollars of humanitarian aid, mostly medicines, since 1989 (including its predecessor, the United Armenian Fund). He has been decorated by the presidents of Armenia and Artsakh and the heads of the Armenian Apostolic and Catholic churches. He is also the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

8 Comments

  1. Dear Harut Sassounian, very good interview and very will dun.
    Thank’s and God blase you and your family.We the Armenian.
    Need you very badly when it cames to the GENOCIDE interviews.

    Garbis

  2. Thanks for sharing these interviews with the readers of the weekly. You brought out all the right points, but I wonder if we Armenians need to be clearer still.  The non-Armenian media seems to be unclear about what we are after:  1. An historical record that upholds the truth about the genocide and withstands the denial and political pressure from Turkey.  2. Justice for this crime in the form of reparations for all that was lost and stolen through forced deportation, pillaging and massacring of 1.5 million Armenians.

    We sound unclear in our message and seem to vacillate between wanting US genocide recognition and stating that we don’t really need it because it already exists.  When explaining why we protest Obama for his broken promise we need to be clear that it is not just about money and votes.  It is also about our role as citizens to hold our government accountable to the democratic principles that our nation stands for.  Why should Turkey, or any nation, be permitted to pressure the US into compromising our political integrity?   So, although we may not need US recognition to validate our claim, we require it to avoid colluding with Turkey in weakening the historical record. I as an American-Armenian, understand the need for an alliance with Turkey, but I don’t believe that we have to sacrifice the truth in order to accomplish this.  France resisted this pressure, so can we.

    We Armenian-Americans should call upon our government to be leaders in the prevention of genocide by not allowing it to go unpunished.  The US has a role to play in helping Turks to recognize the crimes of the Ottoman/CUP era, and then to distance themselves from it through acknowledgment and just reparations.  It is a crime that, 96 years later, the perpetrator nation continues to deny it’s responsibility and it is helped to avoid justice by wishy-washy political expediency from the world’s leading democratic nation.  Armenian-Americans have every right to assert “Not in my name, you don’t!”

  3. Obama, by playing ‘games’ with the Turkish Genocide of the Armenian nations, thus is guilty of being the American president who, DELAYING THE END OF THE CYCLE OF GENOCIDES,   too, is prolonging the ongoing/unending Genocides on our planet… now since the 19th, the 20th and, now, the 21st centuries.  ALL GENOCIDES SHALL HAVE BEEN ENDED WITH THE TURKS FACING JUSTICE, PAYING ALL REPARATIONS TO THE ARMENIANS.  FOR DESPOTS SHALL NEVER HAVE ATTEMPTED GENOCIDES KNOWING THAT THE CIVILIZED NATIONS OF THE WORLD WOULD NOT ALLOW THEIR SLAUGHTERS, RAPES, TORTURES, AND WORSE OF HUMANS AGAINST HUMANS…
    HUMANITY SHALL HAVE REIGNED… GENOCIDES SHALL HAVE ENDED – FOREVER!!

  4. Harut,

    You say that Turkey has become radical Islamic by strengthing its ties with Iran and can’t be a good ally with the US. Okay then, Armenians have been bragging for the past several months about their strong ties with Iran and othe “radical” nations. What does that make Armenia? 

    Man, I’d love to see you into a decent debate!!!!! You’d get hammered!!!

  5. Robert:
     
     
    The difference should be quite clear. Perhaps your visceral hatred of everything Armenian prevents you from seeing the obvious. Allow me to explain:
     
     
    Turkey fancies itself as an  Islamic country, yet an allegedly staunch, secular Kemalist State, a bridge between the East and the West, an indispensible  ally of the West, a NATO anchor, a stalwart bulwark against Radical Islamism, blah, blah, blah, blah…..
    Turkey is a modern state only by the grace of God of the Christian West – and their 100s of US$ Billions given to Turkey over decades.
    Turkey is a member of NATO, an organization of Western States.
    Turkey gets low-cost top tier military technology as a benefit of being a member of NATO: most of Turkey’s military budget is subsidized by the West.
     
     
    The term ‘radical’ is a Neocon invention to beat down whoever does not subscribe to the NeoCrazy worldview, and does not subscribe to their insane ideas.
     
     
    Mr. Sassounian was pointing out the well known Turkish national trait of playing both sides and being completely untrustworthy: while taking Western money, enjoying unfettered access to rich Western markets, and pretending to be a trusted friend of the West, Turkey is also playing footsie with a state that the West considers, quote,  ‘radical’ and an adversary.
     
     
    Armenia has claimed none of that.
    Armenia is not a member of NATO.
    Armenia does not get US$ Billions annually from the West, in particular the US.
    Armenia  and Armenians do not consider Islamic Republic of Iran quote, ‘radical’.
    Iranian-Armenians, in the 10s of thousands, fought and died alongside their Iranian brothers against Saddam’s Iraqi invaders.
    Genetic cousins Armenians and Persians, later Christian Armenians and Islamic Persians/Iranians – have been close friends and allies for centuries. We have a shared culture, cuisine, common words in our languages.
    Iranians are a cultured, peaceful people with a rich civilization that dates back 1000s of years.
    Iranians have not attacked another country for a couple of thousand years.
     
     
    See the difference ?
     

  6. Robert,

    On top of Avery’s comment I want to also add that since Armenian is surrounded with barbaric countires to East and West (with closed borders), and Georgia to the North (which during the course of history swithched sides on us several times), Armenia basicaly has no other option but to have good ties with Iran.  It is more of a survival method and not a choice.  And USA precisely understands that.  But Turkey can absolutely afford not having ties with Iran.  I hope YOU  ARE   informed enough by now to not chalenge anyone on this topic again, let alone assuming that someone can be HAMMERED by your stupid comparisons.

  7. Robert,

    You say that “Armenians have been bragging for the past several months about their strong ties with Iran and othe “radical” nations”. 

    Which is the other “radical” nation??????????????   N. Korea? Venezuela? or maybe you meant Azerbaijan????

    You know what your main disadvantage is??  (and I don’t mean you personaly only, I mean Turks, Azeris and whoever’s heart goes with you).  YOUR MAIN DISADVATAGE IS THAT YOU GUYS ARE PLAYING DEFENCE ONLY. How long are you going to play defence? Don’t you realize that it is just a matter of time before you loose???

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