FRANKFORT, KY – The Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region (ANCA-ER) announced today that it successfully defeated Senate Resolution 168 in Kentucky, which grossly misrepresented the facts of Artsakh-Azerbaijani conflict. Dozens of Kentucky residents responded to the ANCA-ER action alert and successfully defeated the measure. Kentucky joins Idaho, New Hampshire, and other states which have already rejected similar misleading pro-Baku measures in the recent past.

“Our experience in Kentucky proved again that the democratic process works and our state legislators will not tolerate any attempt of interference and misrepresentation that serve the interests of a foreign dictator like Ilham Aliyev, who has ruthlessly repressed his own people and taken an increasingly anti-Western stance, while continuing aggression against Armenia and Artsakh effectively endangering fragile peace in the region,” said ANCA-ER Communications and Community Outreach Director Artur Martirosyan. “With our wide network of local ANCs and advocates, we will continue to work diligently to ensure the rights of the free people of Nagorno Karabakh Republic are protected and affirmed by the international community.”

S.R. 168, sponsored by Senator Damon Thayer, was introduced in the Kentucky Senate on March 1, 2016. Upon learning about the resolution by local advocates, ANCA-ER immediately mobilized the grassroots and spoke strongly against the deceptive and dangerous resolution calling upon the Senate President and Majority Floor Leader to withdraw it. Earlier today, the Kentucky Senate officially withdrew the measure from the proceedings of the legislative body and effectively killed the resolution.

The numerous calls and emails generated by the ANCA-ER and local residents caused Senators to educate themselves on the realities of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Sumgait and Baku massacres of Armenians, Azerbaijan’s gross human rights track record, Baku’s destabilizing role in the region as well as the rightful aspirations of the people of Artsakh Republic to live in an independent state free of Azerbaijani repression.

About ANCA-ER

The Armenian National Committee of America Eastern Region (ANCA-ER) is the grassroots advocacy organization representing the views and advancing the policy priorities of Armenian Americans and other friends of Armenia across the Eastern United States. Working in coordination with a network of local ANCs, community advocates and local supporters, the ANCA-ER actively advances the concerns, interests, and priorities of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.