Former Senator Sununu: Gold, Greed, and the Granite State
One of Anglo Asian Mining companies digs in Azerbaijan
BY ARAM SUREN HAMPARIAN
No one expected an Armenian issue to take center stage in this year’s high-profile New Hampshire Senate race – a contest pitting U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas against former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu that may very well decide which party controls the U.S. Congress.
But it has.
And in a very big way.
The story broke on May 11 of this year, when Sununu’s U.S. Senate financial disclosure forms revealed a personal financial stake of up to $5 million in Anglo Asian Mining, a foreign company that profits from gold-mining operations on Armenian lands in Artsakh ethnically cleansed of their indigenous Armenian population by Azerbaijan in 2023.
Three key points stand out.
First, Sununu’s investment reflects deeply troubling judgment.
This is not an incidental holding buried in a diversified mutual fund. According to his own Senate financial disclosure, Anglo Asian Mining is his largest single disclosed investment. At a time when Azerbaijan remains under international scrutiny for its brutality against Armenians – including the torture of Armenian hostages – Sununu has chosen to maintain a substantial financial stake in a company whose business interests have expanded alongside Azerbaijan’s military gains. Investments are choices. Of the thousands of publicly traded companies available to investors, Sununu chose Anglo Asian Mining, and made it the largest disclosed investment in his portfolio. That decision speaks volumes about his judgment and priorities.
Second, Anglo Asian Mining knowingly profited from the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh’s Armenian population.
Following Azerbaijan’s military offensives, Anglo Asian Mining publicly celebrated access to mining concessions in territories that had been home to Christian Armenians for centuries. Those operations became possible only after more than 150,000 Armenians were forced from their homes in September 2023. This is not ordinary resource development. It is commercial activity made possible by the violent removal of an indigenous population. As the Armenian National Committee of America has consistently argued, economic activity that legitimizes or benefits from ethnic cleansing undermines accountability, justice, and the internationally recognized right of return of displaced Armenians.
Third, Granite State values are rooted in morality, integrity and accountability – not complicity in genocide.
The people of the Granite State demand ethical leadership from those who seek to represent them in Washington. They expect public servants whose financial interests reflect, not undermine, the values they champion. A substantial personal investment in a company benefiting from the aftermath of ethnic cleansing stands in stark contrast to those expectations.
This November, New Hampshire voters will face a clear choice. They can elect Chris Pappas – endorsed by the ANCA – whose record has consistently reflected support for human rights, democratic values, and accountability for Azerbaijan’s aggression against the Armenian people. Or they can elect John Sununu, whose own financial disclosures reveal that he’s profiting from Azerbaijan’s unprovoked attack and unpunished ethnic cleansing of Armenians.
Aram Hamparian is the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America.
