Chairwoman of Standing Committee on Social Welfare of the Artsakh's Parliament Zoya Lazaryan spoke on the Capital Hill on the Congressional Event Devoted to the NKR Independence

Honorable Members of Congress,

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to join in support of remarks of my colleague’s remarks, our Parliament Speaker Ashot Ghoulian.

It is very gratifying to witness continued support from American legislators. This is yet another evidence of the United States’ support for values that are universal.

The assistance that the United States of America provides to our young republic through its annual appropriation is very important.

The people of Artsakh hope that with the help of our steadfast friends and supporters on the Hill, the traditional assistance of the American state to Artsakh will continue in 2012 and in the years to come.

It is unfortunate that many other governments and donor organizations are yet to follow the American example. Nagorno Karabakh remains largely deprived of access to international assistance that could be used towards elimination of heavy consequences of war, raising the standard of our people’s standard of living, and especially – improving conditions for thousands of refugees, who fled from pogroms and massacres in Azerbaijan to Nagorno Karabakh.

Congressionally allocated assistance during the last decade amounted to tens of millions of dollars, and despite difficulties we occasionally encountered with disbursement of funds, nonetheless, the very fact of this assistance perhaps matters much more than the figures.

We live and build our state in an extreme situation. In the 21st century attempts are being undertaken to isolate the people of Artsakh from universal progress in all spheres, including social. This is another violation of human rights. Because, people cannot be deprived of general welfare, regardless of the international status or their place of residence. In our case, Azerbaijan is trying hard to restrict the capabilities of our people. But we believe that political status should not influence the people’s welfare.

20 years of independence have proved that Artsakh can address its own economic and social challenges. And this has been possible to significant extent due to assistance by the United States. We appreciate this. I am confident that when adopting this decision, US Congress knows the resources will contribute to peace in the South Caucasus.

Allow me once again to express our gratitude for this warm welcome. I hope that Artsakh will always deserve the attention and support of US legislators, government and the American public.

Thank you.