Permanent Representative of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic to the U.S. Robert Avetisian participated this week in a congressional event organized by the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) headquarters in Washington.

The event was dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian pogroms in Azerbaijan in 1988-1990, as well as the numerous challenges that independent Artsakh faced in the social, economic, and other fields, reported the NKR MFA press office.

Armenian diplomats, ANCA representatives of the ANCA Washington Office, U.S. Congressman Frank Pallone, members of other congressional panels, former Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan, journalists, and members of the Armenian community of America attended the event titled “Nagorno Karabakh. The generation following the Armenian pogroms, the challenge of establishing peace, and the democratic development”.

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian made the opening remarks.

In his speech, Co-Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, Congressman Pallone condemned the massacre of the Armenian population in Azerbaijan, stressed the necessity of recognizing the NKR independence and the importance of providing continuous U.S. assistance to Artsakh.

The keynote speakers were American Armenian lawyer and former refugee from Baku Anna Astvatsaturian-Turcotte, who touched upon the issues related to the Armenian massacre in Baku and Azerbaijan's crimes against the Armenian population, as well as lecturer of the School of Public Health of the University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Alina Dorian, whose speech covered a range of issues related to the U.S. assistance to Artsakh and the NKR health care system.

Short speeches were also delivered by a group of former refugees.