Ruben Safrastyan

Ruben Safrastyan (Armenian: Ռուբեն Սաֆրաստյան; born 5 October 1955), is a professor, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, full member of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, and professor of history and Turkish studies at the Yerevan State University. He has also served as a counsellor of the Armenian Embassy in Germany. In recent years he has received various fellowships, including Humboldt (Germany), Fulbright (USA), and International Policy (Hungary) fellowships and conducted researches at the universities of Bochum, Berkeley, and Budapest. His publications include 12 authorized and edited books and 130 articles and papers. He specializes in Turkish, Ottoman, Genocide, Middle Eastern and Regional Studies. Prof. Safrastyan is also the founding editor of the academic periodicals The Turkic and Ottoman Studies (since 2002) and Contemporary Eurasia (since 2012), as well as editor of the academic yearbook Peoples and Countries of the Near and Middle East (Yerevan, Armenia).

Ruben Safrastyan was born on 5 October 1955 in Yerevan. In 1977 he received his University Diploma on Turkish Studies and Armenian Studies in Yerevan State University's Department of Oriental Studies. During 1978 - 1980 Ruben Safrastyan got his Post-Graduate Program (Aspirantura) on World History and History of Turkey, Institute of Oriental Studies, Armenian National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan, Armenia.

Prof. Safrastyan's honorary international activities include membership on the International Board of World Security Network Foundation, N.Y. (USA), and membership on the Editorial Board of the international peer-reviewed journal [Sociology and Anthropology, Horizon Research Publishing, Alhambra (USA). He is also Senior Fellow at New Westminster College, Vancouver (Canada), and Senior Analyst at Wikistrat Inc, Washington, D.C. (USA). Prof. Safrastyan is a Member of Public Council of Armenia and Chairman of the Commission of Religion, Diaspora, and International Integration. For his professional achievements, Prof. Dr. Ruben Safrastyan was decorated by several medals and other awards, most notably the Movses Khorenatsi medal, the Republic of Armenia's highest cultural award.