Washington, DC - On the occasion of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic's twentieth anniversary of independence, the Armenian Assembly's Northern California Regional Council (NCRC) held a briefing featuring Robert Avetisyan, NKR Representative to the United States, reported the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA). Convened at the St. Vartan Armenian Church in Oakland, California, the Bay Area audience also heard remarks from Andrew Lyons, Vice President of HALO Trust USA, and AAA Executive Director Bryan Ardouny. Mr. Avetisyan provided a historical overview of Karabakh as well as current-day issues and challenges explaining how "during almost the seven decades of Nagorno Karabakh's existence within Soviet Azerbaijan - a part of the Soviet Union - the authorities in Baku regularly violated the rights of Karabakh Armenians, hampered the region's economic development, and implemented a policy of deportation of Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh, thus transforming the demographic composition of the region in favor of its Azerbaijani minority." "Today, Artsakh is an independent state capable of defending its citizenry and the process of depopulating our homeland by the Azeri authorities has ended. Nor do we intend that they should have the opportunity to resume such policies and violations of basic human rights," Avetisyan added. For his part, Andrew Lyons discussed the important life-saving work his organization is doing to clear unexploded ordinance and mines in Nagorno Karabakh left over from the time of the war in the early 1990s. Lyons also expressed concern that, without additional funding sources, progress will be hampered and thus prolonging the time it will take to rid NKR of this lingering danger. Introduced by Armenian Assembly ARAMAC Northern California State Chair and NCRC Member, Valina Agbabian, Ardouny focused his remarks on the current environment in Washington, DC and urged those present to stay actively involved to ensure that Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia receive the attention they merit as well as ongoing U.S. assistance to develop their economies. Following the briefing, a lively question and answer period ensued and covered a range of important topics for the speakers to address. Afterwards, there was an opportunity for further discussion while guests enjoyed an assortment of refreshments. "I would like to express our appreciation to the members of the NCRC for all of their hard work in conjunction with the members of St. Vartan's Cultural Committee for making this event possible. We also extend our gratitude to Rev. Fr. Hovel Ohanyan for hosting us," stated the Assembly's Western Region Manager Aline Maksoudian. Established in 1972, the Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

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