USAID ready to help Nagorno-Karabakh refugees

YEREVAN, September 26. /ARKA/. The U.S. government and, in particular, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is ready to assist Armenian authorities in addressing the needs of the people displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, USAID Administrator Samantha Power said at a meeting today with Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan in Yerevan.

Power pointed out that the U.S. assistance to Armenia has recently tripled.

In his turn, the Deputy Prime Minister presented the grave humanitarian situation in Nagorno Karabakh and the problems of people who had to flee their homes following Azerbaijani military attack on Sept 19 that killed more than 200 people, including children and wounded more than 400 others.

Khachatryan emphasized the key role of the United States in the process of strengthening democracy in Armenia.

"Unfortunately, external security challenges in our region and their consequences threaten the irreversibility of democracy in Armenia. Despite this, the government remains committed to implementing the adopted agenda," the deputy prime minister said.

The Armenian government said more than 13,000 people have arrived in country since the Karabakh exodus began on Sunday after Sept 19 Azerbaijani military attack..-0-