Serj Tankian, frontman of System of a Down, recently turned to Instagram to encourage Imagine Dragons to cancel their September gig in Baku, Azerbaijan. His caption was as follows: “It has to be said now. Imagine Dragons had planned a gig in Baku, Azerbaijan, on September 2nd, which I learned about a few months ago. I was confident they were unaware that Azerbaijan’s petro-oligarchic dictatorial state was starving 120k people in Nagorno-Karaba, which the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, has officially branded a Genocide.” The singer also stated that he sent the band a ‘private letter’ but received no response. He stated, ” “So, through their representatives, I sent them a kind letter urging them to reconsider performing in Azerbaijan because it would help whitewash the dictatorial regime’s image there.” I included several pieces, including one from Amnesty International, with whom I was assured they had previously collaborated. There was no reaction. “No response, no response.
” Serj went on to explain why he felt compelled to openly criticize Imagine Dragons, saying: “As the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabagh worsens, with starvation already documented, I am forced to publicize this letter and their disregard for this humanitarian disaster.” Maybe they believed they had a legal obligation to perform on the broadcast, or maybe they just don’t care.” The frontman also addressed the ‘humanitarian catastrophe’ that is occurring in Azerbaijan. He went on to say: “I have spent my entire life advocating for genocide recognition and have always maintained that there must be a price to pay for Genocidal regimes or deniers.” Azerbaijan is about to commit another holocaust, but in the meantime, they can enjoy an American band from LV. Screw that! That is not correct.” In his description, he also included a change.org petition that people may sign: “If you want to sign a petition to the band on change.org, go to my profile, and you can see my letter to the band on my Facebook page.” Thank you for taking the time to read this. Serj” Serj Tankian’s Instagram post is shown below.
