My Trip to Washington, DC for ANCA-ER Advocacy Days

Last week, my parents asked if I would like to go with my mom to Washington, D.C. for two days for the ANCA-ER Advocacy Days. I learned that hundreds of people were planning to go because of the urgent situation happening in Artsakh. I really wanted to go, so my mom asked my principal Mrs. Kalfayan if the absence could be excused. Mrs. Kalfayan said she would excuse the absence because this would be a great learning experience for me. I was very excited, but also nervous because I was not sure what to expect. I knew my mom, my aunt Karine, Dzovinar Hamakorzian (the head of our local ANC) and a few other friends would be there. My social studies teacher Mrs. Pupa also excused me from my assignments and assigned me a special presentation about my experience. On Wednesday morning, everyone met at the ANCA headquarters for a quick meeting and breakfast. Then the ANC leaders passed out everyone’s schedule for the day. There were over 100 advocates there that morning. The ANCA organized meetings with over 90 US Representatives and Senators. There were six meetings on our schedule that day with Michigan members of Congress. We had to split up from my aunt Karine and cousin Aren because they were going to meet with the New Jersey members since that is where they live. Our reason for these meetings was the current situation in Artsakh. For 60 days, Azerbaijan has blocked the Lachin Corridor, the only road that connects Artsakh to Armenia. The Azeri government also cuts electricity, natural gas and the internet. Children are unable to go to school, and everyone is freezing cold in the winter right now. Four hundred tons of supplies including food and medicine and supplies used to come from Armenia to Artsakh every day. Since the blockade, there are no supplies going through, and people are dying, starving and suffering. There are 120,000 Armenians who live in Artsakh; 30,000 of them are children. I learned that we can ask Congress to help us with issues that we are worried about. America is a democratic country that wants to help people and other countries who are suffering. We asked our Michigan representatives to support a resolution or a special request that condemns Azerbaijan’s actions. We also would like them to send help to Artsakh. We also are asking that they cut the millions of dollars the United States sends to Azerbaijan to help their military. It is sad that the United States would send money to a country that hurts innocent people and children. We want this to stop. There is a threat of another Armenian Genocide right now. We want the United States to give Azerbaijan consequences for the terrible things they are doing. The Azeris have done so many horrible things to torture soldiers, women and our people. Our first meeting was at Senator Deborah Stabenow’s office with her staff member, Ani Toumajan, a former Manoogian student. This was a treat for all of us to see her. We had a great conversation with Ms. Ani. She said the Senator definitely wants to help, and she knows that Mr. Gary Peters, the other Senator of Michigan, also plans to help. We asked if they can work together to possibly call the State Department about this critical situation in Artsakh. We also met with the offices of Jack Bergman, who represents mostly the upper peninsula; Hailey Stevens who represents the district I live in; Hillary Scholten of the Grand Rapids area; Tim Walberg of Southern Michigan; and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (I was able to take a picture with her). So far, Hailey Stevens and Rashida Tlaib have agreed to become co-sponsors of the resolution. We are hoping more representatives from Michigan will join them to become co-sponsors. We spoke to them a lot about what was happening. Some of them really seemed interested, and some of them were maybe just being polite. I sometimes felt sad when they didn’t seem to care too much. I felt mad too. We showed them maps. I was also able to talk about how I felt about what was happening. I wrote in my journal during all the meetings. I wrote my opinions and gave everyone a grade about how they responded. I changed a couple of grades to an A+ after they signed on to be sponsors. We ran into Unger Aram Hamparian between meetings, and he asked me if I was having a good experience. I showed him my notes and journals, and he gave me good advice on how I can be more organized and told me he was happy I was there. We also ran into Ungerouhi Tereza Yerimyan from the ANCA. I watched the confident way she stopped a congressman in the hall and spoke to him. I was so surprised and impressed; I hope I can be like her someday. Later, we all met at the ANCA office for a delicious dinner together. We all talked about our day and shared our thoughts about how the day went. We prayed together for our brothers and sisters in Artsakh. I had the chance to sit down and share my feelings with Ungerouhi Yeghisapet Chouldjian. She looked at my notes and discussed what else I can do. I learned a lot from her. I am always happy when I see her. The next day, we went to three meetings with my aunt Karine to meet more representatives from New Jersey and New York. We met Congressman Josh Gottheimer. My aunt, Ungerouhi Ani and a few others from New Jersey seemed to know him very well. I heard he likes to come to eat Armenian food all the time at the church. He made some promises to help more and already had signed on as a co-sponsor. I hope he does what he says he would do. I think my aunt and Ungerouhi Ani will call him until he does what he said he would do. In the afternoon, we went to a protest at Capitol Hill. Congressmen Adam Schiff and Frank Pallone both came and spoke to support Artsakh and said that enough is enough. No more money or weapons to Azerbaijan. There were hundreds of people at the protest. We carried many flags and large signs. We all chanted together, “Artsakh is Armenia,” “Break the Blockade,” “No more aid to Azerbaijan,” “Armenians are dying, Azeris are lying.” I learned that it is important to ask members of Congress to be co-sponsors so that the resolution becomes strong. When we started our meetings, we only had eight sponsors, and now we have over 50 sponsors. We hope this is enough to go to a vote soon, and when it actually goes for a vote, good wins over evil. Overall, I felt that it was a good experience, and it was interesting to see our American government in action. But, I was also very sad that more isn’t being done to stop this terrible situation. I am always sad when I think about the people in Artsakh, but it helped me feel less helpless when I went to Washington D.C. I hope to do an internship in a few years with the ANC like my Morkoor Karine Birazian Shnorhokian and my Hopar Steve Karapetian.

My Trip to Washington, DC for ANCA-ER Advocacy Days

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Kohar Karapetian

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This story is FREE for you...

Kohar Karapetian

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