Serj Tankian urges Imagine Dragons to cancel Azerbaijan concert

PanARMENIAN.Net - System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian has urged Imagine Dragons to cancel their upcoming concert in Baku, Azerbaijan, amid the latter’s blockade of 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).

“A few months ago, it came to my attention that @‌imaginedragons had planned a show on Sept 2nd in Baku Azerbaijan. I was sure they were unaware that 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, Luis Moreno Ocampo,” Tankian wrote on Instagram.

“So through representatives, I sent them a kind letter urging them to reconsider playing their show in Azerbaijan as it would help whitewash the dictatorial regime’s image there. I included various articles including one by Amnesty Int’l who I was told they have worked with in the past. There was no response.

“No answer, no response.”

As the humanitarian crisis worsens in Nagorno-Karabagh with starvation already being recorded, Tankian said he is forced to publicize the letter and the band’s “disregard” for this humanitarian catastrophe.

“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. Another genocide is looming by Azerbaijan and while this happens they get to enjoy an American band from LV.,” Tankian wrote.

“That’s not right.

“Go to my profile to sign a petition to the band on http://change.org if you care to sign and you can see my letter to the band on my Facebook page.”

Since December 12, 2022, the sole road connecting Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia - the Lachin Corridor - has been blocked by Azerbaijan. Baku tightened the blockade on June 15, 2023, banning emergency relief supplies that were carried out by Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross through the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world. The move aggravated the shortages of food, medicine and other essential items experienced by the region’s population. On August 15, Karabakh Human Rights Defender’s office reported the first case death from starvation.