El-Sayed Backs First Christian Nation, Condemns US Aid To Azerbaijan
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) endorsed Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Wednesday after he condemned U.S. aid to Azerbaijan.
El-Sayed criticized President Donald Trump and his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, in a statement shared by independent journalist and political analyst Danny Krikorian on Wednesday.
El-Sayed said that the current administration offers a “blank check for military aid to Azerbaijan in the face of ongoing atrocities is a blatant violation of international law,” before adding that if he beats Rogers in the upcoming midterm elections, he would “stand up for the peace, dignity, security, and self-determination of the Armenian people.”
While serving as a representative in 2001, Rogers voted for legislation allowing President George W. Bush to waive the ban on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan.. The ban was put into place in 1992 after the formerly Soviet country placed blockades on and attacked Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, according to Krikorian.
Presidents from both parties have repeatedly used the waiver. The Trump administration renewed it again this month. None of those renewals required a vote in Congress.
Rogers has not said whether he would vote to end it.
El-Sayed’s list of countries whose militaries he has said the U.S. should not fund extends from Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and now Azerbaijan.
His position differs from that of some progressives he’s often grouped with. When the House voted 405–11 in 2019 to affirm the Armenian Genocide, Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who has endorsed El-Sayed, voted yes. However, Ilhan Omar voted present, saying genocide recognition “should not be used as a cudgel in a political fight.”
The Armenian National Committee of America endorsed El-Sayed alongside his statement, saying Michigan’s Armenian community “needs a champion as Sen. Gary Peters retires.”
