Serj Tankian, the frontman of System Of A Down, has called for US rock band Imagine Dragons to cancel their forthcoming concert in Baku, Azerbaijan, this Autumn.
On Wednesday evening, Tankian took to Facebook to persuade Imagine Dragons to cancel the September tour stop. He revealed in the post that he had tried sending the band a private letter to no avail.
“Azerbaijan’s petro-oligarchic dictatorial regime was starving 120k people in Nagorno-Karabagh, which is now being called a Genocide by the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court,” Tankian explained in his post.
After revealing that he had sent Imagine Dragons a “kind letter” via their agents, “urging them to reconsider” the Baku concert, Tankian posted publicly on Facebook, including a link to a petition.
“As the humanitarian crisis worsens in Nagorno-Karabagh with starvation already being recorded, I am forced to publicize this letter and their disregard for this humanitarian catastrophe,” the post continued.
“Maybe they felt they had a legal liability to play the show; maybe they just don’t care. My whole life, I have been an advocate for genocide recognition and have always said there has to be a price to pay for Genocidal regimes or deniers,” he added.
“Another genocide is looming by Azerbaijan, and while this happens, they get to enjoy an American band from LV. Fuck that! That’s not right.”
In his private letter to Imagine Dragons, Tankian remained cordial, congratulating them on their success over the past decade. “One of the things I appreciate about you as artists is that you’re active proponents of various human rights issues and social causes. Your work with Amnesty International and your outspokenness about the war in Ukraine among them,” he wrote.
Addressing the matter at hand, Tankian explained why he felt compelled to intervene. “This is due to the horrendous human rights violations carried out by the corrupt petro-oligarchic dictatorship of Ilham Aliyev against not only his own people but thousands of Armenians (my people). Since 2020, Azerbaijan has created war against Armenians, killing thousands, displacing tens of thousands and terrorizing countless more via an illegal blockade that has been ordered to be reopened by the ICJ and the European Court of Human Rights.”
“With the world in so much turmoil since COVID and the subsequent war in Ukraine, too much of the world is still unaware of what’s happening to Armenians by Aliyev’s regime. They’ve invaded Armenia and have been carrying out heinous human rights violations with impunity. International events and performances by artists have only served to normalize and whitewash their status among the family of nations.”
“I really feel that performing in Azerbaijan would have a negative impact on your brand as well. I’m confident that you can decipher all the facts for yourselves to decide whether to cancel your concert. Either way, I truly appreciate your time and consideration. Thanks for hearing me out, and I hope to meet you all one day,” the letter concluded.
Last year, System Of A Down, who are of Armenian descent, condemned Azerbaijan’s bombing of Armenia’s eastern border, labelling it an act of “evil aggression”.
“Around midnight on the 12th of September 2022, forces of Azerbaijan led by its corrupt petro-oligarchic leader Aliyev attacked Armenia’s whole eastern border bombing civilian infrastructure and homes,” they wrote in a statement.
The band continued: “Their goal is to terrorise Armenians and gain more concessions from Armenia along with regime change in one of the few democracies in the whole region. This is 2 years after they attacked Nagorno-Karabagh in an attempt to ethnically cleanse the region of Armenians.”
System Of A Down also argued that Azerbaijan has been “emboldened by the EU’s ill perceived dependency on their natural gas and a perceived weakened Russian hegemon in the region. As a band, we have always done our best to entertain and inform. We have friends and family in harms way in Armenia right now and are extremely worried and concerned for the safety of our people and country.”
