Los Angeles, 24 NOVEMBER, ARMENPRESS. April 24th, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, an attempted extermination of the Armenian people by the Ottoman Empire. A century later, SYSTEM OF A DOWN refuse to let the victims or lessons learned be forgotten. On April 10th, 2015, they'll commemorate the Genocide's 100th anniversary on the world stage with their "Wake Up The Souls" arena tour, an international trek that begins at London's Wembley Arena and culminates with the band’s first-ever performance in Yerevan’s Republic Square. For ticket info on the tour, which is System Of A Down's first since 2013, visit systemofadown.com.

“As a band, it’s been one of our dreams to play in Armenia,” says lead vocalist Serj Tankian. “To be able to play in the homeland of our forefathers while respecting the memory of those that perished in the first genocide of the 20^th century will be an honor.”

(Attached is a statement from System Of A Down (Tankian, guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan) in which they discuss the importance of the cause in greater detail.)

As pointed out in a recent Forbes op-ed piece by writer Jano Boghossian, the atrocities committed in 1915 marked and traumatized all subsequent generations of Armenians both in the small remaining homeland, and the far-reaching Diaspora. "Victim groups have no need for a justification of memory," wrote Boghossian, "but they do need justice." System Of A Down's  landmark tour will see them take the call for truth to Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Russia (itinerary below). The group, whose four members are all of Armenian descent, have lost family members and history to the Genocide and have worked tirelessly over the years to promote awareness. In April 2009, Tankian made a short video urging President Obama to honor his campaign pledge to properly commemorate the Armenian Genocide. The group made headlines in 2013 after a concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles saw Tankian asking the packed-house crowd to imagine a government that remained silent on the Holocaust, as many did regarding the Armenian, Greek and Assyrian genocides.

“The pursuit of justice knows no time restraints, recognizes no obstacles, and will not be halted until justice is met, whether it’s one hundred years or one thousand,” says drummer John Dolmayan.

Fans looking for information about the "Wake Up The Souls" tour and/or how to get involved should visit the band's official site, systemofadown.com, where they'll see content curated by the group, along with an interactive "heat map" splash page featuring the band's statement about the tour and cause, along with tour dates, ticket links, share options, fan-generated content and "Take Action" instructions.  

When the user clicks on any highlighted city on the heat map, a fact about the Armenian Genocide will pop up, which will be sharable to the users' social networks (example - France: “In 1915 France advises Young Turk leaders that they will be held personally responsible for crimes against humanity"). Each tour date will line up with a “Facebook Event Page” to which fans can RSVP, creating a community around each performance. Above the map will be instructions for fans to interact with the map by using the hashtag: #wakeupthesouls. As fans tweet and share, the heat map will grow around the world, showing the impact of people talking about the cause and tour on a global scale.

The "Take Action" page will give fans the opportunity to send out a pre-populated tweet pledging to stand with the good people of conscience in Turkey and urge for global justice for the Armenian Genocide. This automated tweet will also contain the campaign hashtag, which will cycle back around into the heat map feed. 

Since their arrival in 1998, System Of A Down has released 5 studio albums, sold over 31 million copies worldwide, had three No. 1 debuts on Billboard’s Top 200 Album Chart,  garnered a Grammy win and amassed a global following whose members numbers in the tens of millions. They've written and recorded 7 top 10 radio hits, 2 of which were chart-topping No. 1's (2002's "Aerials" and 2005's "Hypnotize").  In 2005 System Of A Down released both Mezmerize and Hypnotize in two installments as a dual album in a single year. The two critically acclaimed albums each debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and on charts around the world, achieving the rare feat of having two No. 1 albums in the same calendar year. “B.Y.O.B.” (Bring Your Own Bombs) was the first single released from Mezmerizeand earned the band a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.

Los Angeles-based fans can catch System Of A Down headlining Night One of KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas on December 13 at the Los Angeles Forum. More info at KROQ.com.

Don’t miss System Of A Down on the “Wake Up The Souls” Tour. Dates are as follows:

April 10—London/UK @ Wembley Arena

April 13 – Cologne/Germany @ Lanxess Arena

April 14 – Lyon/France @ La Halle Tony Garnier

April 16 – Brussels/Belgium @ Forest National

April 17 – Amsterdam/Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome

April 20 – Moscow/Russia @ Olympisky

April 23 – Yerevan/Armenia @ Republic Square

Statement from SYSTEM OF A DOWN regarding commemoration of 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

The first genocide of the 20th century was perpetrated by the Ottoman Turks against the empire's Armenian, Greek and Assyrian populations. The failure to prevent the atrocities or punish the perpetrators led to the modern cycle of genocide.

In the aftermath of this WWI Era mass murder, there were no Nuremberg-type trials, no international courts to exact justice from the perpetrators or to offer reparations or rights of return to its victims. In the place of justice, Turkey bartered its oil rights and leveraged its geopolitical capital to block Woodrow Wilson's planned territorial restoration and reparations for Armenia.

The Turkish state, having escaped responsibility for its attempted annihilation of an entire nation, continues to harvest the rich fruits of its crime. Its leaders today, emboldened by the world's inaction, try to enforce a gag-rule prohibiting the U.S. and other governments from speaking honestly about this atrocity.

Horrific stories of the first modern genocide filled the front pages of the NY Times starting in 1915.  The U.S. humanitarian response to this crime, from the American Red Cross to Near East Relief, marked America's emergence as an international humanitarian power.  Yet, sadly, it was the world's failure to punish the perpetrators of this genocide that set the dangerous precedent of a genocide committed with impunity that has so emboldened tyrants - from Hitler to al-Bashir - to use mass murder as a tool of policy and power. 

The German army, allied with Ottoman Turkey, seeing Turkey evade accountability, drew a terrible lesson from this atrocity about the willingness of the world to turn a blind eye to the planned extermination of a whole race under the guise of war.  One young German soldier named Adolf Hitler of the Great War later remarked "WHO NOW REMEMBERS THE ARMENIANS?" as he orchestrated what is now known as the Holocaust.

Our answer is WE DO!

We will not allow the crime of despots coupled with the greed of world powers and their interests in resource acquisition to pen our history.

Despite the UN Genocide Convention and numerous ad-hoc international bodies, including the U.S. Atrocities Prevention Board, this worst of man-made diseases continues to spread because the world's response to genocide is viewed as a political choice, not a moral necessity.

By demanding a truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide we are saying Never Again to all genocides.  Never again will we stand by while people are murdered for belonging to a select race, ethnic, or religious group as they were in Turkey, Nazi Europe, Cambodia, East Timor, Rwanda, or Darfur.

There are already brave souls within Turkey, who - at risk of prosecution, persecution, and even violence - are openly calling for recognition and reparations for the Armenian Genocide.  Many other Turkish citizens share these humanitarian values, but have not yet spoken out - intimidated by a government that has, for too long, obstructed the peace that only truth and justice can bring. It's time to break this silence.

As we mark this solemn centennial, please join us and the good people of conscience in Turkey to take a stand for truth and justice, and ask their President and Parliament to accept the Republic of Turkey's moral and material responsibility for the Armenian Genocide.

With your help, such a historic step taken by the people of Turkey in the spirit of human solidarity, heartfelt compassion and justice will not only heal the wounds of one genocide, but will more broadly represent a truly transformative step toward a new age - an era without genocide.

Thank you.

System of a Down