YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 10, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) continued calls for grassroots action to increase aid to Nagorno Karabakh and foster stronger U.S.-Armenia trade relations, as President Obama rolled out his Fiscal Year 2017 (FY2017) budget request earlier on February 9, “Armenpress” reports, citing ANCA’s official website.

President Obama proposed a $22.412 million allocation in economic aid to Armenia – a 22% increase over last year’s request, but far less than the $40 million previously advanced by the ANCA and Congressional Armenian Caucus. The FY2017 request for Azerbaijan is $10,936,000. The White House’s proposal did maintain parity between Armenia and Azerbaijan in terms of appropriated military aid, with International Military Education and Training (IMET) assistance set at $600,000 and Foreign Military Finance (FMF) at $1,000,000. President Obama also requested $1,700,000 for International Narcotics Control and Law enforcement for Armenia.

“While we remain troubled that President Obama – in the face of increasing Azerbaijani cross-border aggression – would propose any military aid at all to Ilham Aliyev’s armed forces, we do appreciate that, in this context, the principle of military aid parity has been maintained to both Armenia and Azerbaijan,” stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. He added that the ANCA would place a high priority on securing an appropriation of at least $5 million in aid to Nagorno Karabakh, including for the Lady Cox Rehabilitation Center, a regional clinic based in Stepanakert that treats children and adults with disabilities.

The Administration’s budget does not include any figures for aid to Nagorno Karabakh, although, over the past several years USAID has allocated at least $1,500,000 annually for this purpose.