Shortly before Serj Tankian, frontman of Armenian-American metal band System of a Down”, arrived in Armenia. First of all, he was welcomed by Nikol Pashinyan and the leaders of the movement, and then by the people gathered at Zvartnots airport who greeted him with applause. Tankian, answering journalists’ questions, once again confirmed that he is not going to have a concert in Armenia because of health problems. He said that he still coughs, but “now as we are here we will get rid of it with the help of Armenian mulberry vodka”.
Speaking about the movement, Serj Tankian said: “When the time comes, the people rebel, nothing can stop them”. He noted that he was following the movement through a live stream and did not sleep in those days: “We have not slept, believe me, all Diaspora Armenians are spiritually with you”. In response to the question whether Nikol Pashinyan a promising candidate, Serj Tankian said: “We have great hopes with Nikol, of course, he is our nation’s candidate. We should always keep eyes on Nikol to make sure that he does not disappoint us”.
Nikol Pashinyan said that they were meeting for the first time, before this they had only a telephone conversation during the movement: “We did not have the opportunity to meet before, but from the first moment of our talk we communicate like old friends”.
In response to the question whether he may use administrative levers so that Serj Tankian holds a concert in Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan said: “I have said that the era of administrative pressure in the Republic of Armenia has come to an end”. And Tankian replied that there are other important tasks to deal with.
Ami CHICHAKYAN
