Daily Herald
September 28, 2005
Kane County edition
Band urges Hastert to identify genocide
By Gala M. Pierce
Daily Herald Staff Writer
System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian kept a promise
Tuesday he made to his 97-year-old grandfather, who as
a child saw his infant brother thrown on an animal’s
horns during the Armenian Genocide – ask the Speaker
of the House to help the world remember.
The Beirut, Lebanon, native did so by leading a rally
in front of U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert’s Batavia office,
urging the Plano Republican to hold a vote on pending
legislation that would recognize Turkey’s killing of
1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1923 as
genocide.
`This is not just a political event for us; it’s a
personal event,’ Tankian said to the crowd of more
than 125 people. `We’re a small percentage of our
original people, and that’s a profound thing.’
The band, which organized the rally along with several
Armenian-American groups, is no stranger to mixing
politics with its music. The Los Angeles quartet’s
songs regularly hit on topics like genocide and petty
criminals doubling prison populations.
The House International Relations Committee approved
two resolutions Sept. 15 that would recognize the
Armenian Genocide.
According to historians, as the Ottoman Empire began
to crumble in Turkey, the Armenians became more
isolated as the only major Christian minority in an
area dominated by Turks. Calls for Armenian
independence were met with violence.
`We’re not just trying to recognize a crime that was
committed 90 years ago but also trying to end the
cycle of genocide that’s taking place today,’ said
Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian
National Committee of America.
The groups contend that despite his previous public
support for the measure in 2000, Hastert twice has
prevented the Armenian Genocide legislation from
coming to a full vote.
`At that time there was a personal request from the
White House to not call that resolution to a House
vote because of the diplomatic concerns of what it
would mean in the Middle East,’ Hastert spokesman Brad
Hahn said.
Hahn said he appreciated how peaceful and civil the
rally went. At this time, Hastert neither is
preventing the resolutions to come to the full House
nor is he leading the charge in an effort to do so.
The Turkish government, which has not acknowledged the
genocide itself, remains an ally to the United States,
protesters said.
Members of the crowd hoped Hastert was listening
although he wasn’t physically in the Batavia office.
Nairee Hagopian, 33, of Hoffman Estates, said only
four people in her family survived the horrific
events. Her grandfather and great-grandmother were
thrown at the bottom of a firepit with about 50 others
in 1915 in Zeitoun, Turkey. Most perished when the
blaze was lit. `Luckily, because they were at the
bottom, they lived,’ Hagopian said of her relatives.
Riley MacDonald, a senior at Batavia High School,
ditched class to show her support for the cause.
`It shocks me that it would ever be a question,’ she
said of acknowledging the genocide.
Drummer John Dolmayan, the other member of the
multi-platinum quartet who appeared in the rally, also
lost family members in the tragedy. His grandfather,
who suffered from emphysema, was shot and killed in
1915. He was discovered hiding in a tree by a Turk
soldier after he coughed, which gave himself away.
`We don’t blame the Turkish people today for what
happened at that time, but we think it’s a shame they
don’t even know their own history,’ Dolmayan said. He
said it’s the band’s only rally on their tour, and
they plan to stay in the Chicago area all week until
their concert Friday at the Allstate Arena.