Thanks Legislature for Recognizing NKR
(ARMENIAN WEEKLY, June 15) BOSTON, Mass.—Member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) parliamentary faction in the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR/Artsakh) Lernik Hovhannisyan met with the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, Robert A. DeLeo, on June 9 to thank the legislature for recognizing the independence of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabagh.
Hovhannisyan briefed the speaker about the causes for Azerbaijan’s border invasion in April and detailed the attacks on the civilian population of Artsakh by Azerbaijani troops.
DeLeo and Hovhannisyan exchanged gifts and discussed measures under consideration in Washington to increase security along the line of contact.
Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, Dikran Kaligian of the Armenian National Committee of Eastern Massachusetts, and Representative Jonathan Hecht of Watertown also took part in the meeting. Hecht introduced the 2011 resolution that called on the United States to support the self-determination and independence of Karabagh, which made Massachusetts the second state to do so.
Hovhannisyan’s visit to Boston was part of his Eastern United States speaking tour organized by the Artsakh Fund of the Eastern U.S. and the Hairenik Association.
Photo: (L-R) Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, Karabakh Deputy Lernik Hovhannisyan, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts Robert A. DeLeo, Dikran Kaligian of the Armenian National Committee of Eastern Massachusetts, and Representative Jonathan Hecht of Watertown.