Grassroots Push Mobilizes National Action against $339 Million EXIM Bank Financed Boeing Deal with Silk Way Airlines
WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has launched a nationwide grassroots campaign calling on President Donald Trump to overrule the U.S. Export-Import (EXIM) Bank’s reckless decision to approve a $339 million loan guarantee for Boeing’s sale of cargo aircraft to Azerbaijan’s Silk Way West Airlines—a company directly tied to a genocidal regime with a well-documented record of arms trafficking and aggression against the Armenian people.
The campaign—available via anca.org/exim—mobilizes Armenian Americans and human rights advocates across the U.S. to demand that President Trump reverse the March 31, 2025 EXIM Bank decision to finance dual-use cargo aircraft, a deal that risks further militarizing Azerbaijan’s authoritarian regime and escalating regional instability.
Silk Way Airlines, closely linked to the Azerbaijani government and President Ilham Aliyev, has been repeatedly implicated in transporting arms to conflict zones. These shipments, documented by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and The Washington Post, include weapons deliveries to Azerbaijan during its deadly assaults against the indigenous Armenian population of Artsakh in 2020 and 2023. These attacks culminated in the ethnic cleansing of over 120,000 Armenians in September 2023—just months before EXIM approved this controversial loan package.
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“This dangerous and deeply irresponsible loan guarantees the delivery of deadly cargo, the continued transfer of weapons to Azerbaijan’s genocidal Aliyev regime,” stated Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. “The EXIM Bank’s action is not only morally indefensible, it is strategically short-sighted, aiding and abetting Azerbaijani aggression, contrary to U.S. laws, our international obligations, and universal humanitarian values. President Trump must act immediately to block this loan and uphold America’s commitment to peace and the protection of persecuted Christians.”
The $339 million loan guarantee (EXIM reference: AP099540XX & AP099540XA) will support the delivery of Boeing aircraft by Spring of 2026. The financing was approved despite extensive public outcry, following a robust comment period in January and February 2025 during which the ANCA led a national advocacy effort against the deal. The campaign warned that the loan would:
— Violate U.S. export control laws, including the Export Administration Regulations and International Traffic in Arms Regulations;
— Contradict U.S. sanctions policy, particularly the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and the FREEDOM Support Act;
— Undermine regional peace by strengthening Azerbaijan’s military posture against Armenia and Artsakh;
— Enable genocide by facilitating Azerbaijan’s campaign of ethnic cleansing and cultural erasure;
— Erode U.S. credibility by aligning American taxpayer resources with a regime condemned for war crimes and corruption.
Further evidence from investigative reporting by RFE/RL, the OCCRP, and The Washington Post confirms that Silk Way aircraft have conducted repeated arms shipments from Israel’s Ovda Airbase to Baku—including at least six flights in early 2025 alone. These shipments, consistent with patterns seen before Azerbaijan’s military assaults on Artsakh, reinforce the airline’s role as a key conduit for Azerbaijani militarization and aggression.
Earlier OCCRP reports also documented prior U.S. EXIM Bank support for Silk Way, including $420 million in 2014 and an unprecedented $1 billion in 2017. In each case, Silk Way’s fleet was used to transport weapons to conflict zones, including Africa and the Middle East. Notably, retired U.S. generals who oversaw military supply chains during the Afghanistan war later entered into consulting deals with Silk Way – raising serious ethical and national security concerns reported by The Washington Post.
“Armenian Americans will not stand by as our government bankrolls the very aircraft used to bomb civilians and erase our ancestral homeland,” added Hamparian. “We call on President Trump to act now—and we call on all Americans to join us in this urgent stand for justice and peace.”
Armenian Americans and allies can take action today by visiting anca.org/exim and sending messages directly to the White House demanding an immediate halt to this destructive and dangerous loan agreement.
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Photo Caption: The ANCA is calling on advocates and allies to pressure the Trump Administration to block an EXIM bank loan to Azerbaijan’s Silk Way West Airlines—a company directly tied to Aliyev’s genocidal regime.