ANC of Rhode Island meets with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse regarding the crisis in Artsakh

Pictured from l. to r.: Hrag Arakelian, Michael Varadian, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Steve Mesrobian and Steve Elmasian

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Four members of the Armenian National Committee of Rhode Island (ANC-RI) met with U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse in his Providence office on August 28.

Sen. Whitehouse has proven during his term in office to be a strong ally and friend to his Armenian constituents in Rhode Island.

ANC-RI chair Steve Elmasian began the meeting by thanking Sen. Whitehouse for his readiness to meet and discuss the worsening crisis in Artsakh and for always making his office available.

ANC-RI member Steve Mesrobian thanked Sen. Whitehouse for being a co-sponsor on ANCA-backed Senate resolution S1329 – a bill to direct the Librarian of Congress to carry out activities to support Armenian Genocide education programs, and for other purposes.

Mesrobian reviewed the rapidly deteriorating situation in Artsakh with the senator and his staff and asked for the senator’s help to reach out to both the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and USAID chair Samantha Power, to fast track emergency humanitarian aid to the besieged Armenian population of Artsakh.

Sen. Whitehouse was very aware of the situation and eager to help. He said he would review what was discussed in the meeting and act accordingly. He also said he would speak with Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland about sanctions on Azerbaijan.

While Senator Whitehouse could not be in Washington, D.C. on September 1 to join the protest in front of the White House, he agreed to tweet in support of our efforts and share pictures from the protest to help raise awareness.

Also present were ARF chair Hrag Arakelian and ANC-RI and ARF member Michael Varadian, who asked the senator two questions:

What else should we be doing to get our message through?
Why has the world ignored this ongoing crisis and impending genocide?

Senator Whitehouse said that we are doing the right thing by requesting meetings such as these and that he will do what he can to help resolve this grave situation.

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ANC of Rhode Island

The Armenian National Committee of Rhode Island (ANC-RI) has worked tirelessly for decades advocating for all issues of concern to Armenians in Rhode Island, the United States, Armenia and Artsakh. The ANC-RI is responsible for the Armenian flag flying at the RI State House and at every city and town in the state on April 24 each year. Additionally, the ANC-RI holds flag raising ceremonies annually in North Providence and Cranston, where local Armenian residents are honored. The ANC-RI also worked with the RI House of Representatives to be the first government body in the world to officially recognize Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).