Head of Sisian to the US Ambassador: Artsakh citizens dream of  returning to their homeland, but their homes are under the control of  the enemy

ArmInfo.US Ambassador to Armenia Lynn Tracy paid a working visit to the Sisian community of the Syunik region of Armenia.

According to the press service of the Sisian community, the  ambassador was also accompanied by the head of the USAID office in  Yerevan, David Hoffman,and embassy staff.

During the meeting with the head of the Sisian community, Arthur  Sarkisian, Tracy asked about the situation in the community in the  post-war period and presented the work done by the United States to  support the displaced persons from Artsakh, as well as the efforts  made to identify the remains of the victims.

The Ambassador also asked about the mood of the Artsakh people living  in Sisian, whether they are going to stay in Sisian or intend to  return.

The head of the community noted with regret that the war, with all  its brutality, completely changed the daily life of Sisian: the  community lost almost eight dozen residents during the war, one dozen  were missing, there are wounded, and at the same time, there was a  problem related to the security of the border.  At the same time,  when the ambassador asked whether the priority sectors of the  community's development, which were tourism and agriculture, had  changed, Sargsyan noted that the issue of border security overshadows  all development programs, according to him, if there is no security,  if there is uncertainty and there are no answers to many questions  related to Syunik, the only priority and program becomes security.

"As for the Artsakh people who settled in Sisian, they dream of  returning to their homeland, but, unfortunately, their homes are in  the enemy's control zone, and here the community tries to lighten  their burden as much as possible," the head of the community noted,  adding that their focus is also on solving the problems of families  who died for the Motherland of heroes.  In his turn, David Hoffman  spoke about the programs developed by USAID in Armenia, most of which  are aimed at providing the people of Artsakh with the knowledge  necessary for employment. Programs have also been developed for the  development of villages, tourism, as well as improving the skills of  social workers.  Lynn Tracy and David Hoffman also visited the Sisian  Foundation Center for the Education of the Elderly. The purpose of  the meeting is to discuss the results of the work carried out within  the framework of the "Budget Participation"program.  The visit took  place on April 19. It is noteworthy that Armenian President Armen  Sarkissian was also on a working visit to the Syunik region of the  Republic of Armenia.