Rock legend remembers genocide centenary

Rock superstar Serj Tankian may call New Zealand home - but today he'll be in Armenia, commemorating the lives of his ancestors lost to genocide 100 years ago.

Tankian and the band he fronts, System of a Down, will today play a concert in Yerevan's republic square, to commemorate the beginning of the Armenian genocide.

On April 24, 1915, as Anzac soldiers prepared to invade Gallipoli, the Ottoman (modern day Turkey) government initiated the wholesale killing of between 500,000 and 1.5 million Armenians over four years.

For Tankian, it will be the final date of the band's Wake Up the Souls Tour, which he said aimed to raise awareness of the genocide - and Turkey's denial it ever happened.

In a sense, the genocide almost cost Tankian his life.

Born in Lebanon to Armenian parents, he grew up in California, but has not forgotten his roots, describing Armenia as a "small but ancient nation of people with a beautiful culture."

"My grandfather from my mother's side, after losing his father and younger brother, ended up in an American orphanage in Greece to later make his way to Lebanon.

"He experienced the arrest of his father by Turkish gendarmes and his younger brothers murder during the the pogroms," said Tankian.

"My maternal grandmother was saved by a Turkish mayor, who put his own life on the line to save a little girl."

Alongside calls for the Turkish government to cease denial of the atrocity, Tankian has urged the New Zealand government to recognise the genocide.

"It is absolutely essential that the government recognise these events, because that reflects the true historical reality.

"New Zealand should always remain historically correct, as it has done well dealing with its own indigenous past and present," he said.

Back in New Zealand, a small community of Armenians, including Rafi Karnik, will hold a service today, and attend tomorrow's Anzac Day dawn ceremony.

Mr Karnik, a 26-year-old accountant, emigrated to New Zealand aged 8 with his Armenian parents. His great grandparents were orphaned during the genocide.

He said it was also important to remember the Kiwi soldiers that helped Armenian refugees to safety - like Robert Kenneth Nicol of Lower Hutt, who was part of a special force which, in 1918, provided rearguard protection for a column of 50,000 Armenian and Assyrian Christians fleeing Turkish and Kurdish troops.

"These individuals should be honoured just like how Oskar Schindler is remembered for his actions in saving thousands of Jews from extermination," Mr Karnik said.

In addition, he said Churches across New Zealand raised relief funds to aid survivors of the genocide.

Mr Karnik hoped New Zealand's Government, like more than 20 others including France, Germany, Russia and Switzerland, would officially recognise the genocide.

"This issue is first and foremost a human rights crime. By labelling it a 'dispute' is insulting to the 1.5million Armenian martyrs. Most Armenian Kiwis are descendants of genocide survivors," he said.

Alongside NZ composer John Psathas, Serj Tankian has composed "100 years" to commemorate the genocide: