By Taniel Koushakjian (@Taniel_Shant) AAANews Blog On November 12th, an Azerbaijani military unit stationed near the official Line of Contact (LOC) shot down an unarmed Nagorno Karabakh (NK) army helicopter killing all three servicemen aboard. News of the incident was first reported by the British Broadcasting Corporation and soon went viral across the Internet. “The [Armenian] Assembly strongly condemns Azerbaijan’s blatant cease-fire violation and calls upon the Administrat

By Taniel Koushakjian AAANews Blog Earlier this year, Armenians from around the world gathered in Yerevan, Armenia for the 5th annual Armenia-Diaspora conference. Held under the auspices of the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Diaspora, the conference took place between September 19-21 with over 700 representatives from 150 organizations spanning 60 countries worldwide. Armina Darbinian, Armenian Assembly of America Country Director in Yerevan addressed the conference during t

INFOGRAPHIC: Clashes between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, July 28 – August 4, 2014 (via eMedia.am) #Karabakh #Azerbaijan #NagornoKarabakah #Artsakh #Armenian #Armenia #caucasus

AAANews Blog Americans for Artsakh (AFA) condemns Azerbaijan’s recent aggression along the Line-of-Contact between Azerbaijani and NagornoKarabakhRepublic (Artsakh) armed forces and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Baku’s deliberate and ongoing sniper and cross-border attacks are clear violations of the Ceasefire Agreement it signed with the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) and Armenia in 1994. With each illegal attack, Baku’s destructive policy perpetuates a dangerous cycle o

By Peter Kechichian and Gevorg Shahbazyan AAANews Blog Last week, Azerbaijan was again the focus of a U.S. foreign policy discussion. On July 1st, the Atlantic Council hosted a forum in Washington D.C. entitled, “NATO in the Caucasus: The Case of Azerbaijan.” Moderated by Mr. David Koranyi, the Deputy Director of the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, the panel featured influential analysts who cover this strategic region. These included Ambassador Khazar Ibrahi

Mariam Pashayan AAANews Blog On Thursday, July 3, 2014, Armenian Caucus co-chair Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) submitted a statement into the Congressional Record of the U.S. House of Representatives in dedication to outgoing Armenian Ambassador Tatoul Markarian. Markarian has been Armenia’s Ambassador in Washington since 2005. Before his appointment as Ambassador, Markarian was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000-2005. “Ambassador Markarian has dedicated his

By: Gevorg Shahbazyan, Summer Intern, Armenian Assembly of America On Monday, June 16, the Jamestown Foundation held a conference entitled “Repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict on Moldova and the South Caucasus,” at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. The two panel conference featured several policy experts and former U.S. government officials, including Margarita Assenova, Director of Programs for the Balkans, Caucasus & Central Asia

The Armenian Assembly of America invites you to join the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia, the Office of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Armenian American organizations at the Annual Capitol Hill Observance of the Armenian Genocide, on Wednesday, April 9, 2014 in the Rayburn Gold Room 2168 from 6:00pm – 8:00pm featuring special guest speaker Ragip Zarakolu, Turkish human rights activists and outspoken champion of Armenian Genoc

Join Armenian Assembly of America board member Van Krikorian and Andranik Migranyan, member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy of the Russian Federation for a special discussion on Russian-Armenian and Armenian-American Relations Today at Columbia University, Kent Hall, Room 413 on Thursday, March 27 at 7:00 PM. #Crimea #Genocide #Russia #Ukraine #ArmenianGenocide #NYC #Artsakh #NagornoKarabakh #SouthCaucasus #Diaspora #Armenian #ColumbiaUniversity #Armenia

The following statements were made by Members of the U.S. Congress to commemorate and preserve in the historical record the 1988 anti-Armenian pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad, and Baku, Azerbaijan. Every year, Members of Congress rise to remember the brutal persecution of Armenians in Azerbaijan, events which ultimately led to the independence movement of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. IN REMEMBRANCE OF SUMGAIT, KIROVABAD AND BAKU MASSACRES — SPEECH OF HON. BRAD SHERMAN OF CALI

THE WHITE HOUSE: This week, both the House and Senate returned to Washington and assembled on Tuesday for a bicameral session to receive the President of the United States for the annual State of the Union speech. Addressing Congress and the American people, President Obama proclaimed, “America doesn’t stand still – and neither will I,” as he looks to use his arsenal of executive actions to circumvent Congress in the coming years. The question on the minds of Armenian-America

Both the House and Senate have adjourned for the Thanksgiving week break. The House returns on December 1 and the Senate returns on December 9. The House is expected to wrap up the year by December 13, leaving only 8 days on the legislative calendar. As the Assembly previously reported, talk of major legislative packages (immigration reform and tax reform) have been pushed into next year or beyond. In addition, the 2014 election campaign is officially underway, all but furthe

#ArmenianCaucus #Congress #ArmenianAssemblyofAmerica #Artsakh #DC #NagornoKarabakh #Armenian #CapitolHill

The Armenian Assembly’s Capital Regional Council cordially invites you to our Annual Holiday Briefing & Awards Reception at the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia (2225 R Street NW, Washington, DC 20008) on Saturday December 14, 2013 3:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M. Featuring H.E. Tatoul Markarian (Ambassador, Republic of Armenia), Robert Avetisyan (Artsakh Representative to the United States), Annie Totah (National Board Member), Bryan Ardouny (Executive Director), Naira Babayan (Artis

Last time we brought you the Assembly Agenda the U.S. government was 14 days into a partial government shutdown and on the verge of breaking the U.S. debt ceiling, potentially causing the U.S. to default on its credit. As anticipated, at the eleventh hour (literally minutes before midnight) Congress ultimately did not risk the full faith and credit of the United States and finally passed a Continuing Resolution, or CR, funding the government through January 15, and raising th

Last week, Armenian Assembly Board Member Van Krikorian sat down with James Warlick, U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Minsk Group, responsible for overseeing the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the historically Armenian region of Nagorno Karabakah. #Karabakh #StateDepartment #OSCE #Azerbaijan #Artsakh #NagornoKarabakh #Armenian #Armenia

Last time we brought you the Assembly Agenda the U.S. government was on the verge of a shutdown with no solution to keep the government funded in sight between the White House, Senate Democrats and House Republicans. Today is day 14 of the shutdown and, as of this morning, we are no better off now than two weeks ago. The latest talk on Capitol Hill is that House leaders have agreed to drop certain ObamaCare provisions in a proposal that would reopen the government though Janu

This Week in Washington, D.C. As we reported last week, the full attention of Congress this week has been on the looming government shutdown set to occur next Tuesday, October 1. Earlier this week the House passed a stop-gap spending bill that would keep the government open and operating for 45 days and that would defund the President’s healthcare law for FY14. Today, the Senate passed the House version, stripping the defunding language, thus setting up a showdown between the

WATCH: Azerbaijan Ambassador Attempts to Dispute Armenian Assembly of America’s Right to Submit Testimony to Congress. Learn more at www.armenian-assembly.org. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/) #Karabakh #ArmenianAssembly #GurgenMargaryan #Azerbaijan #Congress #RamilSafarov #ArmenianAssemblyofAmerica #Julfa #Politics #Artsakh #DC #NagornoKarabakh #Nakhichevan #freedomofpress #Armenian #Armenia

200 violations in May, 200 violations in June, and 200 more last week. Azerbaijan Dictator Ilham Aliyev sure loves his sniper rifles and targeting Armenians, but will the world respond? #Karabakh #Azerbaijan #Artsakh #sniper #NagornoKarabakh #NagornoKarabakh #Armenia