Rockband Muse, Comedian Trevor Noah and singer-songwriter Ane Brun say performances in Turkey

The mass protests in Turkey against the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the popular mayor of Istanbul, are also starting to hit the cultural sector. International stars say, partly at the insistence of Turkish fans, performances that would be organized by a Turkish company that openly supports the government of President Tayyip Erdogan.

On Wednesday, the British rock band Muse announced that she will postpone a concert planned for June in Istanbul. It would be organized by DBL, a company whose owner had sturdy criticism of the protests against Imamoglu’s arrest. The day before, the well-known South African comedian and writer Trevor Noah already had a performance later this month in Istanbul canceled for the same reason.

The anger of many Turkish fans was awakened by a remark by DBL owner Abdülkadir Özkan on X. « It is so clear as what, this is hostility towards the state. An act of betrayal. »

Misunderstanding

Muse motivated his decision, also on Xas follows: « After careful assessment and listening to the reactions of our fans with full respect for their concerns, our show in Istanbul will now be postponed until 2026, so that we can guarantee that DBL is not involved. » DBL himself had already announced that the company would no longer organize the concert. Özkan spoke of a misunderstanding. Trevor Noah did not give an explanation of his decision to cancel his performance in Istanbul.

Muse may also respond to a call From the Turkish singer Gaye Su Akyol, who had also called on to cancel the concert. Earlier, the Norwegian singer Ane Brun had already canceled a concert. It is still unclear whether a concert by British singer Robbie Williams will take place in October.

Imamoglu, which is considered the most important political rival of Erdogan, was arrested on March 19 on suspicion of corruption. Only a few take the indictment seriously, also because the judicial device is completely controlled by Erdogan and the president uses this for his own political purposes. The arrest of Imamoglu and other prominent figures of his CHP party is generally seen as an attempt by Erdogan to eliminate his opponent in the coming years. Many hundreds of thousands of Turks have since participated in protest demonstrations. They fear that the arrests means the neck for democracy in their country.

Symbolic protest

CHP leader Özgür Özel had previously called for a boycott of governmental companies. Later, following student groups, he encouraged the Turks to no longer go shopping one day a week – on Wednesdays – on Wednesdays. The government then spoke of « economic sabotage. » In protest against the government, many shops and cafés also closed on Wednesday.

The government is clearly concerned about these calls to an economic boycott that can affect many companies. This Thursday it was announced that the Turkish Justice has already arrested eleven people, who called on social media to such a boycott. According to the office of the chief public prosecutor in Istanbul, they would have been guilty of suspension and disturbing public order.

Earlier, the actress Aybüke Pusat, who plays in a popular series by the Turkish state channel TRT, was removed from the cast of the series and fired because she had also expressed support for the boycott movement on social media.

To share

Mail the editors