WASHINGTON, DC – The best-selling band System of a Down, on tour this summer with Ozzfest 2002, the nation’s premiere concert series, is reaching hundreds of thousands of fans throughout North America with their message of justice for the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

The band has invited the ANCA along on its tour, setting up “Axis of Justice” tables at each of its shows to distribute educational materials, field questions, and promote discussion about the Turkish government’s ongoing denial of the Armenian Genocide. The ANCA, working with its regional offices and with the help of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), has scheduled volunteers for shows in Washington state, Maine, Florida, Los Angeles and dozens of cities in between.

“Volunteering at Ozzfest has provided an extraordinary opportunity for AYFers across the nation to work with the ANCA in educating System fans on the Armenian Genocide, said Sarine Gregorian, a member of the AYF Eastern Region Central Executive. “Thanks to System of a Down, we have the chance to reach a large number of fans who will help advance our cause by promoting dialogue about the Armenian Genocide and the continued denial by Turkey and its supporters.”

The New York Times, in a July 12th review of the Scranton, Pennsylvania Ozzfest, noted that, “The band, which is Armenian-American, set up an Axis of Justice tent on the grounds, with literature about the Armenian deaths during and after World War I.” (The ANCA-Eastern U.S. office has written a letter to the editor of the New York Times to protest the paper’s long-standing practice of using evasive or euphemistic terminology to avoid accurately referring to Ottoman Turkey’s systematic campaign to eradicate the Armenian people as the Armenian Genocide.)

Commenting on System’s advocacy for the Armenian Cause, including a benefit concert last year for the ANCA, the July 11th edition of the Daily Telegraph of London reported that the band is “heavily involved in a campaign for the U.S. to recognise as genocide the action taken against their people by the Turkish government in the course of the First World War.”

“Once again, System has found innovative and powerful ways to educate their fans and the American public about the Armenian Genocide and – just as importantly – to motivate them to become politically active in the fight against the Turkish government’s campaign to cover up this crime against humanity,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA.

Among the cities on the Ozzfest 2002 tour are: Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Bristow, VA; Camden, NJ; Chicago, IL; Cleveland, OH; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; East Troy, WI; George, WA; Hamilton, Ontario; Hartford, CT; Hershey, PA; Holmdel, NJ; Indianapolis, IN; Kansas City, MO; Montreal, Quebec; Mountain View, CA; Phoenix, AZ; Pittsburgh, PA; Portland, ME; Sacramento, CA; San Antonio, TX; San Bernardino, CA; San Diego, CA; Scranton, PA; Somerset, WI; St. Louis, MO; Tampa, FL; Vancouver, British Columbia; Wantaugh, NY, and; West Palm Beach, FL.

For additional information about System of a Down, including a full listing of their Ozzfest 2002 tour dates, visit:http://www.systemofadown.com