Written by Christopher At

Serj Tankian, the lead singer of a rock band (SOAD), has utilized his international fame to speak out on the Armenian Genocide, using all possible means at his disposal.

Tankian relocated to Los Angeles in 1967, as a youngster, departing from Beirut, Lebanon. Tankian enrolled in Pilibos Armenian High School alongside fellow bandmates Daron Malakian and Shavo Odadjian. Since the formation of the group in 1994, four albums by SOAD have premiered at the top spot on the “Billboard 200” chart, and the band has received four Grammy Award nominations. Their track “B.Y.O.B” secured them the victory in the “Best Hard Rock Performance” category at the 2006 ceremony.

Tankian additionally established the music label Serjical Strike Records in 2001, which has published more than 15 albums thus far. Throughout his musical journey, Tankian published five albums with System of a Down, a cooperative album with Arto Tunçboyacıyan named “Serart,” along with five individual albums: “Elect the Dead” (2007), “Elect the Dead Symphony” (2010), “Imperfect Harmonies” (2010), “Harakiri” (2012), and “Orca Symphony No. 1” (2012).

Nowadays, the significance of these occurrences, such as the Cambodian and Darfur conflicts, the Holocaust, and the Armenian Genocide, is still highly relevant. We have witnessed these events happening in recent history, particularly in the last 15 years. It is crucial to bring attention and focus to the overall issue of genocide. Furthermore, Tom Morello, the guitarist of Rage Against the Machine, and Serj Tankian, who co-founded the political non-profit organization called Axis of Justice, have frequently spoken out about the necessity of bringing justice to this matter.

Rumi, his infant son, and Angela, his spouse, along with Serj, reside in both Los Angeles, California and Auckland, New Zealand. Tankian was honored with the Armenian Prime Minister’s Medal on August 12, 2011 for his involvement in the progress of music and the acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide.

Tankian stated, “I have heard the horrific stories of my grandparents’ survival in the town where the Armenian Genocide took place, and where his grandfather, Stepan Haytayan, lost most of his family. Efkere, a central town in Kayseri (Gesaria), Turkey, is where his maternal grandfather was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide. Tankian’s documentary “Screamers,” released in 2007, chronicles Carla Garabedian’s story.”

The scenes in “Screamers” where Serj and his grandfather talk about what happened are truly distressing. The women and children endured death marches, while Armenian men were disarmed and shot, all throughout Anatolia, without being taken away, raped, or murdered.

Stepan Haytayan, who ran Tankian’s orphanage without the American missionaries, eventually made his way to Lebanon and ended up in an American orphanage in Greece without his family.

In certain instances, the Ottoman government executed these heroes for challenging the establishment. The government’s commands to exterminate or expel Armenians were defied by this honorable Turk. Despite the peril, both she and her family concealed themselves and risked their lives. Varsenig, Tankian’s maternal grandmother, was also one of the Turkish mayors who survived the massacres.

Despite being forced to perform excruciating manual labor, some Armenians managed to persevere and work on the Berlin-Baghdad railway, which was constructed by Germany and Turkey in order to gain access to the Persian Gulf. Thanks to this fact, Vartouhi and Nazaret, Tankian’s paternal grandparents, survived the Genocide.

Tankian, who has aptly titled a song specifically about the Genocide “Yes, It’s Genocide,” doesn’t believe that any nation or ethnicity is monolithic. He has directly addressed the Genocide during a number of concerts by SOAD and himself, and notes that despite the efforts of the Turkish government to discredit him and his band, they still have many fans in Turkey.

Serj acknowledges that his family may not have survived 1915 without a few saviors. Tankian expressed to 100 LIVES, “As much as it is our duty to bring justice to the Genocide, we should also recognize the Ottoman Schindlers.” However, he also believes that justice would provide closure. As he stated in another instance, “I would like to see the Armenian culture move on from discussing the Genocide with justice prevailing… We do not want to forever be known as ‘the lost orphans of the Near East.’ We want to be recognized for who we are today and for what we have represented throughout our history in general.”

Featured image: Robert Seb