EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Sarkis Balkhian is a political and human rights advocate focusing on the MENA and the South Caucasus regions. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America Western Region (ANCA-Western Region). Balkhian has previously worked at ANI, the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Armenia, the Ministry of Diaspora of the Republic of Armenia, the Armenian Weekly, USA for UNHCR, and the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. He was a part of the ARF centennial committee that organized the Responsibility 2015 Conference in New York and served as a Board Member of the Project 2015 Initiative to Commemorate the Armenian Genocide in Istanbul on April 24, 2015.

Most recently, Balkhian served as the Executive Director of Aleppo-NGO in Yerevan, supporting Afghani, Iraqi, Iranian, Lebanese, Syrian and Artsakh refugees in Armenia, and documenting the use of Syrian mercenaries by Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh Conflict. Balkhian holds a MA in International Relations from Yerevan State University and a BA in Political Science, with a concentration in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, from Clark University.

Office | 818.500.1918

Email | sarkis@ancawr.org