ANKARA – British singer Robbie Williams said city authorities called off his upcoming Istanbul concert “in the interests of public safety” after anti-Israel Turkish NGOs and social media users campaigned for the event to be cancelled and protested against his appearance, accusing him of being a “Zionist.”
The October 7 concert was scheduled to take place on the second anniversary of the Hamas-led invasion and massacres in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, and saw another 251 taken hostage, triggering the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
For days, Turkish social media accounts and pro-Gaza NGOs had been calling for the event at the Atakoy Marina to be scrapped, accusing Williams of being “Zionist.”
The Islamic Solidarity Platform had planned protests under the slogan “Zionist Robbie Williams, get out of Turkey!”
The 51-year-old singer has faced renewed scrutiny in predominantly Muslim Turkey over his family’s Jewish heritage and his 2015 performance in Israel, which drew criticism from pro-Palestinian groups.
Williams was raised Catholic but is married to American-Turkish actress Ayda Field, who is Jewish, as are their four children.
He gave another concert in Israel in 2023, during which he told the audience that he was raising his children Jewish “to keep some of the traditions going in the family, just out of respect to you guys and their history” and also revealed a tattoo on his wrist with the word “simcha” (happiness in Hebrew).
Bubilet, the ticketing company, said it had canceled the concert at the request of the Istanbul Governor’s Office. The governor’s office was not immediately available for comment.
Williams wrote on Instagram late on Saturday that the safety of his fans “comes first,” adding he was deeply sorry for the cancellation, which he said was “beyond our control.”
“To end this epic run of dates in front of my Turkish fans was my dream, given the close connections my family have with this wonderful country,” Williams said.
The cancellation came a month after Turkish authorities banned a concert of Enrico Macias, a French singer of Algerian-Jewish origin, after calls for protest over his pro-Israel stance.
Macias, who was born into a Jewish family in Algeria, has on several occasions defended Israel’s response to Hamas’s deadly October 7, 2023, attack.
Israeli and pro-Israel cultural figures have also faced hostility elsewhere in Europe as criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and the humanitarian crisis there, has mounted.
Turkey, a long-time backer of Hamas, has fiercely criticized Israel over its actions in Gaza and says it is committing genocide there.
It has halted all trade with Israel, called for international measures against it, and has repeatedly urged world powers to stop supporting Israel.
Israel vociferously denies accusations of genocide in Gaza and says it takes care to avoid civilian casualties while targeting the Hamas terror group, which is deeply embedded in hospitals, schools, homes, and fortified tunnels under residential areas.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 66,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed over 22,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 onslaught.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.