YEREVAN – Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region (ANCA ER) Executive Director Michelle Hagopian is in Armenia accompanying Baroness Caroline Cox on her 80th trip to Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, the ANCA ER reported.

Baroness Cox is the 2012 ANCA Freedom Award recipient and is a major champion for Karabakh, having opened up a rehabilitation center there through her nonprofit, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART). She’s also a member of the British House of Lords.

Lady Cox asked Hagopian to attend when the pair met at the ANCA ER Banquet in December 2012.

“It such a thrill and an honor to join Baroness Cox on her 80th visit to Armenia. Her dedication and love for the Armenian people show in everything she does. We’re truly lucky to have a humanitarian like her fighting for our cause,” Hagopian stated.

“It’s my first time journeying to both Armenia and Artsakh, and it is a pleasure to do so with Lady Cox.”

Hagopian arrived in Yerevan on September 20 and will be staying until September 27. Members of her HART-United Kingdom team and other colleagues of Cox are along for this trip as well. Among the items on the group’s itinerary include visiting church clergy, meeting elected officials, and traveling to Nagorno Karabakh by helicopter, which was a gift provided from the Armenian government in honor of her 80th trip.

The Lady Cox Rehabilitation Center is internationally recognized as a “Center of Excellence,” disseminating its wide-ranging therapeutic repertoire far beyond Karabakh to other countries throughout the South Caucasus. “The spirit of Armenia, which not only survives but creates beauty from the ashes of destruction, is spreading hope and healing for people with special needs not only in Karabakh and Armenia but far beyond these lands,” stated Lady Cox.

Baroness Cox’s humanitarian aid work has taken her on many missions to conflict zones, including Nagorno Karabakh, Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, Burma, and Indonesia. She has also been instrumental in helping to change the former Soviet Union’s policies for orphaned and abandoned children from institutional to foster family care.

Photo Caption: Baroness Caroline Cox offering remarks at the 6th annual ANCA Eastern Region Banquet in December 2012.