Enrico Macias Concert in Istanbul Canceled by Turkish Authorities
The concert of Enrico Macias scheduled for Friday in Istanbul has been canceled by the Turkish authorities. This decision, announced on Wednesday, September 3, aims to avoid any unrest related to the controversy surrounding the artist's public support for the Zionist entity.
The Istanbul Governor's Office justified its choice by the need to preserve public order, in the face of calls to protest against the holding of the event. Critics of the singer intended to protest against the genocide of the Zionist terrorist entity in Gaza and its supporters.
The artist said he was deeply surprised and saddened by this cancellation. He stated that he has been attached to Istanbul and Izmir, and their audience, for over sixty years, with whom he shares values of peace and fraternity.
This cancellation comes in a context of high tensions between Turkey and the Zionist entity. It follows comments made by Enrico Macias in an interview last August, where he supported the Zionist response to the Hamas assault of October 7, 2023. He had then stated that he did not support the "violence of terrorists", estimating that any "Zionist violence was a consequence of Hamas' actions", while specifying that he had nothing against the Palestinians.
In the past, the singer, born into a Jewish family in Constantine in 1938, had already been declared persona non grata in Algeria for the same reasons. Exiled since 1961, he has never returned to his native country, while expressing hope in the spring of 2023 for a possible return if fate allowed it.
