Saturday, November 18 2023 15:30

ArmInfo.Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley joined with Vivek Ramaswamy in forcefully condemning Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing of Artsakh's 120,000 indigenous Christian Armenians at The FAMiLY Leader Thanksgiving candidate forum in Iowa, a high profile program co-sponsored by the 120,000 Reasons Coalition.

  Their statements were made during a table-side talk led by The FAMiLY  Leader President and CEO Bob Vander Plaats. Noting that Armenia is  the first Christian nation and citing Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing  of 120,000 Armenian Christians, Vander Plaats asked the three  candidates, "how would you ensure that this bastion of ancient  Christianity is safeguarded?"

  In his response, Gov. DeSantis noted, "I think the United States  should be standing for the Christians in Armenia. I think that is a  noble cause."

  https://twitter.com/ANCA_DC/status/1725665083718582283

  Amb. Nikki Haley underscored in her response, "What happened in  Azerbaijan is a travesty... we should be calling out Azerbaijan."

  https://twitter.com/ANCA_DC/status/1725665656920592587

  Vivek Ramaswamy, offered the most detailed response, stating that  "120,000 Armenians, the oldest Christian nation of the world,  displaced. And, the even dirtier secret at the heart of that - we're  [the US government] is paying for it." Ramaswamy criticized the Biden  Administration for waiving Section 907 restrictions, arming and  abetting Azerbaijan's ethnic cleansing of Armenians.

  https://twitter.com/ANCA_DC/status/1725667006236524604

  Ramaswamy has been outspoken in spotlighting Azerbaijan's forced  displacement of Artsakh's Armenians on the campaign trail, discussing  the matter with Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan, and attending a  120,000 Reasons protest organized by the ANCA Eastern Region and AYF  Eastern Region on the eve of the GOP presidential candidates debate  in Miami, Florida. He recently attended an Armenian reception at  Armenian Estates, in Genoa Township, OH, hosted by Tigran and Viola  Safaryan and Steve and Erna Atikian. Longtime ANC-Ohio leader David  Krikorian introduced Ramaswamy at the event, which was attended by  Armenian Americans from across the Cincinnati, Columbus, and  Cleveland areas.

  Vander Plaats and The FAMiLY Leader are part of the 120,000 Reasons  coalition, which has been working on the ground in Iowa and across  the US to exert pressure on the White House, Congress, and the 2024  Presidential candidates to break the silence on the second Armenian  Genocide committed in Artsakh and to support the sovereignty and  security of Armenia.