Sawt Falasteen - Turkish fans, artists urge Muse to cancel Istanbul gig over protest dispute

In a posting on X on Monday, the band announced plans to play Istanbul on June 11, with tickets going on sale on April 3.

But there was an immediate backlash, with fans and artists saying they would boycott the gig over remarks by the boss of DBL Entertainment, the Turkish promoter behind the event.

Since March 19, Turkey has been gripped by its biggest anti-government protests since 2013 following the arrest of Istanbul's opposition mayor, the biggest political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The mass protests have been met with a sharp crackdown, prompting opposition leader Ozgur Ozel to call for a boycott of firms allegedly close to Erdogan's government.

One targeted the EspressoLab coffee chain which was mobbed by protesters on Saturday, prompting a furious response on X from DBL Entertainment's owner Abdulkadir Ozkan, who denounced the boycott call as "treason".

The post prompted an immediate backlash, forcing Ozkan to briefly shut down his account.

Since March 19, police have arrested nearly 2,000 people, among them many students, prompting many young people to begin their own boycott of companies seen as close to Erdogan and his ruling party, the AKP.

Ozkan's post was quickly followed by a barrage of calls on social media to boycott gigs organised by his company, among them a Robbie Williams concert on October 7.

An upcoming DBL show by South African comedian Trevor Noah in Istanbul on April 23 has also been cancelled, although there was no official reason given for the move.

- 'Solidarity matters'-

"We would love to go (to see Muse), but the Turkish organiser of this concert supports fascism," wrote Turkish theatre actress Berna Lacin on X.

"The young people who were going to come to your concert were thrown in jail. Cancel it and come with another promoter," she said addressing the band.

Singer Gaye Su Akyol, popular in Turkey and abroad, also took to X in support of the boycott in a post addressed to Muse, Robbie Williams and a Norwegian singer called Ane Brun.

"I've respected your works for years and know how much you mean to many. But neither I, nor anyone, will attend your Istanbul concerts because the organiser is on the boycott list of the pro-democracy movement," she wrote. "Solidarity matters."

Brun later said she was cancelling her October gig, saying: "I have decided not to play in Istanbul this October... unfortunately, this is not the right time."

Another Turkish singer known as Kalben also said she wouldn't go to the Muse gig "because the organiser is on the boycott list of the pro-democracy movement".

She urged the band to "make a move in the direction of support and solidarity".

I.Yassin--SF-PST