Greek pop star Despina Vandi was asked to leave a town in Türkiye after she refused to perform on a stage with the country’s flag and a portrait of Atatürk.
ADVERTISEMENTThe 54-year-old singer was due to perform at a charity concert in Çeşme, a Turkish resort town west of Izmir, late on Wednesday. Vandi refused to make an appearance after authorities declined her request that the flag and poster of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk be removed, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Atatürk is the country’s founding father, who served as Türkiye’s first president between 1923 and 1938. The incident comes at a time when the leaders of Türkiye and Greece are trying to improve their rocky relations.
In an Instagram post, Çeşme expressed her respect to the audience who “honoured me with their presence at my concert.” But she criticised the organisers, the Turkish Education Foundation, for changing the event from a concert into “a prohibited and non-agreed political connotation.”
“My participation in the said event is not possible,” she wrote.
The audience which had filled Çeşme's open-air amphitheatre expressed their disappointment with boos when the reason for her decision not to appear was announced, according to Sözcü newspaper.
“There is no power that can make us bring down our flag or Atatürk’s poster,” Anadolu quoted Çeşme's mayor, Lâl Denizli, as telling the crowd. “Do not boo her; I don’t think it is worth tiring yourselves and wasting your breath.”
She continued: “This lady should leave this (town’s) limits immediately.”
Neighbours Türkiye and Greece have been at odds for decades over a series of issues, including territorial claims – for example, in Cyprus – and have come to the brink of war three times in the last half-century.
Leaders of the two countries have met several times in the past year in a bid to strengthen a process aimed at normalising ties.
Sözcü newspaper said many of the spectators stayed to watch the performance of a choir that was scheduled to accompany the Greek star, and joined the choir in singing a patriotic Turkish anthem.
Commenting on the AskBalkans subreddit, a user posted: "From her perspective, she is right, after all, she could face serious backlash and hatred in Greece. But there is one point where she is completely wrong imho: Why do you agree to give this concert in the first place?"
"It is a known fact that Turks hang Atatürk's picture and the Turkish flag in such areas. It is also a fact that they will not accept their removal. This could easily be prevented by not accepting to give a concert."
