ANCA Seeks $5 Million in Aid to Artsakh; Zero Military Aid to Azerbaijan, and; $10 Million to Help Armenia Transition those Fleeing Syria

Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Legislative Affairs Director Raffi Karakashian has submitted testimony to key U.S. House and Senate panels supporting the foreign aid priorities of the Congressional Armenian Caucus and outlining the Armenian American community's specific appropriations requests for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, according to ANCA press release.

Among the highest priority issues raised by Karakashian were 1) increased aid to Artsakh, including for the Lady Cox Rehabilitation Center in Stepanakert, a regional clinic serving over 1,000 children and adults with physical and mental disabilities every year, 2) a full suspension of military aid to Baku until Azerbaijan agrees to pull back snipers and heavy arms, ceases cross-border attacks, ends its threats of renewed war, assents to the deployment of gunfire locators and the addition of OSCE observers, and agrees to a settlement of regional conflicts through peaceful means alone, and; 3) a $10 million appropriation to help Armenia provide transition support to individuals from Syria who have found safe haven in Armenia.

Parallel to this effort, friends of Armenia from across America have emailed and called their U.S. Representatives using the ANCA's online activism portals (anca.org/aid and anca.org/call) to co-sign a Congressional Armenian Caucus letter, led by Caucus Co- Chairs Robert Dold (R-IL) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ), calling upon the bipartisan leadership of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State-Foreign Operations to support a similar series of Armenian-related foreign aid provisions.  That letter is anticipated to be sent this week.

The Armenian American community requests:
1) At least $5 million in U.S. developmental aid to Nagorno Karabakh, with special focus on expanding the Lady Cox Rehabilitation Center in Stepanakert, a regional clinic serving over 1,000 children and adults with physical and mental disabilities every year.

2) Zero-out U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan until its leaders agree with the Royce-Engel peace proposals to withdraw snipers and heavy arms, add OSCE observers, and deploy gunfire locator systems.

3) At least $40 million in U.S. economic assistance to Armenia, targeted to growing the U.S.-Armenia trade and investment relationship.  4) At least $10 million in emergency aid to help Armenia provide transition assistance to the nearly 20,000 people who have fled to Armenia from Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East.  5) At least 10% of U.S. assistance to Georgia to be used for job creation programs in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of that country.  6) Language strengthening Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan. 7) Ending the exclusion of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh from the peace process.