Artsakh security and sovereignty ANCA`s top advocacy priorities -   Tereza Yerimyan 

ArmInfo.The Republic of Artsakh's (Nagorno Karabakh) security, socio-economic growth, and youth empowerment were at the center of the Armenian National  Committee of America's (ANCA) recent working visit to Artsakh, during  which three professional staff consulted closely with government  officials, humanitarian groups, and civil society leaders regarding  the ANCA's array of pro-Artsakh advocacy initiatives.  

ANCA Government Affairs Director Tereza Yerimyan, IT Director Nerses  Semerjian, and Programs Director Alex Manoukian were joined by the  ANC International's Gevorg Ghukasyan in a week-long fact- finding  mission to Artsakh.  While there, they worked closely with the ANC of  Artsakh, which was launched in September 2021, to focus on protecting  the rights of Artsakh's citizens, securing international recognition  of the Artsakh Republic, and restoring Artsakh's territorial  integrity. The visit took place as the ANCA ramps up advocacy for  pro-Artsakh priorities in the Fiscal Year 2023 Foreign Aid Bill and  FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act.  

"Artsakh's security and sovereignty are the ANCA's top advocacy  priorities," explained Yerimyan. "We appreciated the opportunity to  speak with government officials, as well as civic and community  organizations to understand Artsakh's challenges firsthand in order  to better advocate for policies that will ensure the safety of the  people of Artsakh and ensure their right to determine their own  destiny on their ancestral lands," added Yerimyan.  "We look forward  to sharing insights about the long-term effects of the 2020 war and  ongoing Azerbaijani aggression with U.S. officials, as we continue to  work to end U.S.  military aid to Azerbaijan and expand U.S. aid to  Artsakh." 

Yerimyan's brief video wrap-up of the visit is available here:   https://youtu.be/6sedQMNNyZM 

The ANCA team discussed Artsakh's geopolitical challenges with  Foreign Minister David Babayan and shared the ANCA's current federal  level efforts calling on President Biden to maintain FREEDOM Support  Act Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan and  Congressional efforts to block any additional military assistance to  the dictatorial Aliyev regime.  Yerimyan also outlined the ANCA's  work with the Biden Administration and members of Congress to secure  sanctions against Azerbaijan and Turkey for war crimes committed  during their 2020 attack on Artsakh and Armenia. The ANCA's work with  groups like the Armenian Legal Center for Human Rights and Justice to  impose international political and legal pressure on the Aliyev  Administration to release over 200 Armenian prisoners of war was also  discussed, among a broad range of pressing topics.  

During meetings with Artsakh Republic Minister of Social Development  and Migration Armine Petrosyan, the ANCA team learned new details  about the plight of the 100,000 Armenian refugees forced from their  ancestral homes during the 2020 war, and efforts to assist their  return to Artsakh. They discussed the important role expanded U.S.  assistance to Artsakh would play in the everyday lives of Artsakh  Armenians and ongoing Armenian American community efforts to secure  $50 million as part of the FY2023 Foreign Aid Bill. The ANCA team  also met with Artsakh representatives of the Armenian Relief Society  (ARS) and Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Association to  learn about their programs on the ground to help families affected by  the war.  Among programs discussed were the ARS "Stand with an  Artsakh Family" relief project and Hamazkayin's "Children of Artsakh"  initiative.  During an uplifting visit to the ARS Soseh Kindergarten,  the ANCA team was treated to special dance and poetry presentations  by the children.  

Artsakh Human Rights Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan discussed the effects  of Azerbaijan's ongoing attacks on border villages and the water and  gas challenges facing the Artsakh population.  During the March 2022,  Azerbaijani disruption of the gas pipeline, Stepanyan brought  international attention to the crisis through daily reports, which  the ANCA shared with elected officials.  He continues to monitor and  investigate the latest incidents and offered detailed reports on  Azerbaijan's targeting of civilian populations.  Stepanyan continues  to work closely with families whose relatives remain prisoners of war  in Azerbaijan and advocates for their immediate release.  The ANCA  team spoke with several former prisoners who had returned from  Azerbaijani captivity and heard their harrowing stories of survival.  

"Meeting with returned refugees from the 2020 Artsakh war and  speaking with families who lived through the Azerbaijani bombing of  Stepanakert was a powerful reminder of the incredible resilience of  Artsakh Armenians and the very real impact of worldwide ANC - Hai  Tahd - advocacy in support of Artsakh self- determination and  freedom," said Nerses Semerjian.  "We look forward to sharing  Artsakh's story of survival with elected officials and community  members alike - as we work to expand the ANCA's network of chapters  and advocates across the U.S." 

During meetings with Vardan Tadevosyan, the founder and director of  the Lady Cox Rehabilitation Center, the ANCA team learned more about  the life-changing assistance the center provides for soldiers and  civilians injured during the 2020 Artsakh war, while working with  children and adults with physical and mental disabilities.  The  Center, first established in 1998 through a partnership of local  health officials and then-Speaker of the United Kingdom's House of  Lords, Baroness Caroline Cox (a trained nurse), is respected  internationally for its leadership in rehabilitation. Following the  2020 Artsakh war, the Center has assisted 1800 patients per year at  their facility and served another 300 homebound patients in  surrounding regions.  The ANCA has long called for U.S. humanitarian  assistance for the Center to increase outpatient services and expand  its reach into isolated, rural, and impoverished areas.  

The ANCA team also met with representatives of The HALO Trust, whose  demining efforts have saved countless lives in Artsakh for over two  decades, in part through ANCA-supported U.S. assistance. The HALO  Trust hit a demining milestone last week, announcing that they had  just finished clearing the Artsakh capital, Stepanakert, of all known  unexploded ordnance - a major feat since over 20% of Stepanakert had  been contaminated during the 2020 Artsakh war.  The ANCA continues to  support U.S.  demining assistance to the HALO Trust to clear Martuni  and Martakert, the second and third-most densely populated cities in  Artsakh, particularly given the increasing flow of returning  civilians to the area.  

During the ANCA working visit, the team also explored ways to  encourage broader Artsakh youth civic participation, offering best  practices developed through the ANCA's broad range of student  empowerment and career services programs.  ANCA Programs Director  Alex Manoukian is working closely with the ANC of Artsakh to explore  remote and in-person intern exchanges between Artsakh and the U.S.,  with a focus on university students interested in policy, politics,  and media.  Manoukian, who also serves on the Armenian Youth  Federation Eastern Region (AYF-ER) Central Executive, teamed up with  AYF-ER Central Junior Council member Shirag Ohannesian in visiting  with AYF chapters throughout Artsakh to expand cooperation through  the AYF "Together for Artsakh" program.  

"This is my second visit to Artsakh in the past six months, and each  time our ANCA Board members and staff visit, we return with new ideas  to strengthen the bond with the people - and particularly our youth,"  said Alex Manoukian.  "Working with the ANC of Artsakh and the AYF,  we look forward to building on existing programs and establishing new  ones to help Artsakh students and recent graduates build a brighter  future in their ancestral homeland." 

Prior to the ANCA working visit to Artsakh, Yerimyan submitted  testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign  Operations, outlining Armenian American pro-Artsakh priorities, with  a sharp focus on ending all U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan and  delivering an urgently needed $50 million aid package to Artsakh.  

In her testimony, Yerimyan made the case that, in the wake of  Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and amid Baku's ongoing  occupation of sovereign Armenian territory, the U.S. Congress should  hold the Aliyev regime accountable by cutting off all U.S. military  aid to its armed forces. She also pressed for a long-term  developmental investment in Artsakh to help its families "rebuild  their lives and resettle in safety upon their indigenous Armenian  homeland." 

Yerimyan will be submitting testimony to the corresponding Senate  panel shortly, sharing the ANCA team's latest findings.