MFA_Report_on_the_occupied_territories_March_2016_1

construction projects, including the construction of 53 houses, the purchase of 12 apartments
for large families and construction of Jamiyyat-Khojavand highway (“Nngi-Martuni”). 189 Like in the
previous years, housing construction, including construction and capital repair of apartments,
is declared a priority. Armenia-founded and controlled Hayastan All-Armenian Fund is a major
donor that provides funding for infrastructure development projects, in particular through its
annual telethons. 190 According to the Fund’s website, to date it financed over $251 million-worth
projects in Armenia and in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. In 2015 alone, the Fund raised
some $10,378,465 in pledges and donations for the construction of single-family houses in the
occupied territories.
Building infrastructure in the
occupied territories is linked
directly to support of the
maintenance and existence of
settlements and to bring and
keep more Armenian settlers
in those territories. According
to Ara Vardanyan, Executive
Director of Armenia Fund Inc.,
the U.S. Western Region affiliate
of the Hayastan All-Armenian
Fund, established in 1994 in
Los Angeles, California, as a
tax-exempt, non-governmental
corporation, “community centres are of vital importance to the ongoing social and economic
development of rural areas in […] Artsakh, and they […] ultimately provide residents with one
more compelling reason to continue living and working in their hometowns.” 191
Construction of the Vardenis-Aghdara highway passing through the
occupied Kalbajar district
│Photo from www.www.himnadram.org│ 2014
Community centre in Zogalbulag village in the occupied Khojavand district
│Photo from www.armeniafundusa.org│27 May 2013
Transport infrastructure projects carried out
in the occupied territories include in particular
a network of roads designed exclusively
for connecting Armenia and the occupied
territories and Armenian settlements within
the occupied territories. Among them are the
Goris-Khankandi road, passing through the
occupied Lachyn district, linking Armenia and
the occupied territories, the “North-South”
highway, connecting the northern part of the
occupied territories with the South and the 116
km-long Vardenis-Aghdara highway, passing
from Armenia through the occupied Kalbajar
district of Azerbaijan. A stretch of road linking
Vardenis and Aghdara via Kalbajar reportedly already exists, but it is in poor condition and is
not passable during the winter months. 192 That new highway is aimed at resolving the issue and
providing a shorter alternative route connecting Armenia and the occupied territories.
The 2014 telethon of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund was directed to the special projects adopted
by the benefactors and the final phase of the Vardenis-Aghdara highway construction, total
cost of which is estimated to be around $30 million. Some $12.4 million were raised at the
189
See “This year 20 billion AMD will be spent on construction in Artsakh”, Artsakhpress.am, 28 January 2014, ; “In the first quarter of the year 2.7 billion AMD of the budget will be allocated for construction projects”,
Artsakhpress.am, 14 January 2014, .
190
See .
191
See “Community Center In Shushi Region’s Mets Shen Will Be The Village’s First”, Armenia Fund USA, 14 April 2011, .
192
See “New Roads, New Questions: Construction of New Armenia-Artsakh highway”, Civilnet.am, 07 June 2013, .
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