Meet Serj Tankian Activist

The musician Serj Tankian is also a proud civic activist. That was the hat he wore during a small forum organized for media and civic activists in Yerevan, on the day following his second one-man concert in Yerevan.

The concert was on the occasion of the opening of the Tumo Center. The forum, co-sponsored by the Civilitas Foundation, where Serj Tankian is a member of the Honorary Board, and Kanachastan, a Yerevan-based enviromental NGO.

The forum was moderated by Alex Sardar, Chief of Party of Counterpart International and Salpi Ghazarian, Director of the Civilitas Foundation, with introductions made by Kanachastan’s Tigran Tshorokhyan.

“I’m a musician, I don’t want to be a full-time activist,” is what Tankian has said about his engagement. Ghazarian said the natural conclusion then is that everyone must be a civic activist in order for no one to need to be one, full-time.

Sardar asked about the celebrity’s willingness to take risks in his career to advance his social agenda. Tankian explained that his agenda grew out of a rejection of injustice, of denial — of the absence of recognition and acknowledgment not just of the Armenian Genocide, but of genocidal acts elsewhere in the world as well.  

The audience consisted of representatives of the media and non-governmental organizations. Many expressed appreciation for Tankian’s willingness to speak up on difficult or controversial topics. Tankian repeated that civic activism is everyone’s right and responsibility, and even power, and that his voice is heard in certain circles, but that everyone’s voice needs to be heard to bring effective change.