WASHINGTON, DC. – The US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs was the venue for the discussions on the amount of US assistance to be allocated to Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR; Artsakh).

The Washington, DC. correspondent of Armenian News-NEWS.am reported the aforesaid.

Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) Executive Director Bryan Ardouny, and Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Governmental Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian delivered remarks at the event.   

Both urged the Congress members to increase the US assistance to Armenia and the NKR to up to $40 million for Armenia, and up to $5 million for Artsakh.

In Ardouny’s words, in light of the current situation in the Middle East, Armenia has a growing role for the US. Nahapetian, for her part, recalled that Armenia actively participates in numerous US programs.  

The representatives of these American-Armenian organizations stressed that despite the hardships and the blockade, Armenia has recorded high indicators in terms of the creation of a business climate and implementing reforms in the country. In addition, Armenia received a large number of refugees from Syria in 2014, and therefore it needs help in providing adequate assistance to the Syrian Armenians.  

As for the US assistance to be allocated to the NKR, the AAA and ANCA officials asked the Congress members not to provide any assistance to Azerbaijan, since it has exacerbated the situation on the border and organized killings.    

Bryan Ardouny and Kate Nahapetian also  reminded the long history of close Armenian-American bilateral relations.