CBS News Transcripts
October 11, 2007 Thursday
SHOW: The Early Show 7:00 AM EST CBS

System of a Down lead singer Serj Tankian speaks about recognizing
the genocide of Armenians in Turkey

ANCHORS: HARRY SMITH

REPORTERS: CHIP REID

A new debate over an old tragedy. Americans of a certain age, parents
of baby boomers, mostly, might remember hearing about starving
Armenians, what happened to the Armenians in Turkey around the start
of World War I. Now a House committee has voted to brand what
happened an act of genocide. CBS News Capitol Hill correspondent Chip
Reid is here with us in New York with details.

Good morning, Chip.

CHIP REID reporting:

Well, good morning, Harry.

You know, this debate has been ranging for–raging for generations.
The question, were Armenians the victims of genocide 92 years ago?
Now some say with all the problems in the world, why should we worry
about something that happened so long ago? Well, those who say it was
genocide say you can’t stop it if you don’t admit it.

Genocide, from the Holocaust to Bosnia to Darfur, brutal campaigns to
systematically exterminate entire ethnic groups. But before any of
those, there was Armenia, where as many as one and a half million
Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks in 1915 in what is now Turkey.

Unidentified Woman: (From "Screamers") So there’s a tendency to say,
`Well, you know, we didn’t know.’ After the Holocaust, you can no
longer give that alibi that you didn’t know.

REID: The documentary "Screamers" follows the Grammy Award-winning
band System of a Down as they campaign to raise awareness about
genocide. The band’s members are all descendants of Armenian
grandparents who survived.

Mr. SERJ TANKIAN (Lead Singer, System Of A Down): (From "Screamers")
The recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Turkish government
before his death would be the first step in redressing an injustice.
And I think it would help him go easier, if that makes any sense.

REID: Turkey insists the killing of Armenians was not genocide, but
the result of ethnic violence during World War I. Now after an
emotional debate, a key committee in Congress says by a vote of
27-to-21, yes, it was genocide.

Representative ED ROYCE (Republican, California): One-point-five
million Armenians were murdered, 500,000 were removed from their
homeland. Passing this resolution will be a victory for human rights.

REID: But President Bush opposes the move.

President GEORGE W. BUSH: This resolution is not the right response
to these historic mass killings.

REID: Why? Because he’s worried that Turkey, a vital ally in the war
in Iraq, will be so offended it will limit US access to Turkey’s
military bases. The rock group documentary is called "Screamers"
because, they say, it’s this generation, the screamers, who will
shine a light on all genocide. Because the only way to end it, they
say, is to admit it when it happens.

Mr. TANKIAN: (From "Screamers") I think it’s important. I think we
should all be screamers.

REID: Now, Democratic leaders in the House say the plan is to have
the full House vote on the genocide resolution later this year. To
soften the blow, they also say they may pass a separate resolution
affirming US friendship with Turkey.

SMITH: Chip Reid, thanks so much.

And joining us here to talk more about that documentary on genocide
is Serj Tankian, lead singer of System of a Down.

Thank you very much for taking the time to be with us.

Mr. TANKIAN: Thanks for having me, Harry.

SMITH: Talk to me a little bit about your grandfather.

Mr. TANKIAN: OK.

SMITH: Your grandfather miraculously somehow survived this holocaust
in Armenia. What was it like to know that, to have that as part of
your family history?

Mr. TANKIAN: Well, I mean, you know, since we were kids he told us
about how, you know, they survived in the desert. He–him and his
family went through the pogroms that the Turkish government had
placed, taken away from their homes, and his father and uncles were
taken away to labor camps and were never seen after. And he survived
by going to a number of orphanages. He actually went to an American
orphanage in Greece for a little while. And, you know, somehow he
survived and made it to Lebanon and thrived and had a family and was
able to, you know, bring us to where we are today.

SMITH: You and all the other members of your band are grandchildren
of survivors of this horrible thing.

Mr. TANKIAN: That’s correct. Mm-hmm.

SMITH: What is the bond that holds you together?

Mr. TANKIAN: You know, having to do with the Armenian genocide, it’s
the knowledge that, you know, we’re all lucky to be here, you know?
And we all know what our grandparents have gone through. We all know
the truth of what it means to feel genocide on your skin. I think it
makes it easier for us to empathize with other genocide. It makes it
easier for us to empathize with other injustices in the world.

SMITH: Yeah. I want to play a little portion of the documentary.
There are very sweet conversations with your grandfather. And people
waking up this morning, they’re seeing this in their papers, they’re
wondering what this controversy is about. And this really is a great
way to open the window to what actually happened almost 100 years
ago. Let’s take a look.

Offscreen Voice: (From "Screamers") My father, his father, his
brother, all the men that were there, they tied them all in chains.
We went closer to see him. And immediately a soldier came with a
weapon. `Away, away,’ he said. He didn’t let us. I mean, I came
forward to kiss my father. He didn’t let me. He forbade it.

SMITH: Incredible. Here’s vivid truth, first-person accounts of
something that did, in fact, transpire.

Mr. TANKIAN: Right. Mm-hmm.

SMITH: The Turkish government absolutely refuses to acknowledge that
what happened did, in fact, happen.

Mr. TANKIAN: Mm-hmm.

SMITH: What is that like living with that?

Mr. TANKIAN: Well, it’s a unique case in the sense that there’s not
that many genocides or holocausts that are still denied today. Even
the one happening in Darfur is pretty much out in the open. So, it’s
a very unique case and it’s very painful. It’s a painful
victimization process that the Armenian people have gone through for
92 years since the actual genocide.

SMITH: Mm-hmm.

Mr. TANKIAN: In living with that pain and it feels horrible that a
democracy will not, you know, ‘fess up to its own archives.

SMITH: Some people would say, though, that’s 100 years ago. How can
that possibly matter?

Mr. TANKIAN: Well, of course it matters. There’s genocide happening
today. There’s–the history, obviously, hasn’t been learned, you
know. We’re still allowing things to happen like that around the
world, and in Darfur. And you know, if we don’t learn the lessons of
the first genocide of the 20th century, how can we tackle this issue?
Genocide is a humanitarian problem. It’s a crime against humanity.
It’s not a national issue. It shouldn’t be treated as such.

SMITH: Right. Serj, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Mr. TANKIAN: Thank you.

SMITH: We really appreciate it.

Mr. TANKIAN: Thanks, Harry. My pleasure.

SMITH: All right.