Itamar Erez performance in Istanbul canceled after threats

The festival is a part of a rich and intensive year-round Akbank Sanat cultural program which hosts prominent musicians from all over the world.

By MAXIM REIDER
Itamar Erez 311 (photo credit: Carousel Artists Management)
Itamar Erez 311
(photo credit: Carousel Artists Management)
Itamar Erez & The Adama Ensemble canceled their performance at Akbank Sanat Jazz Days Festival in Istanbul, which was scheduled for Saturday night, due to threats the musicians and festival management had received.
The festival, which is a part of a rich and intensive year-round Akbank Sanat cultural program, is a series of concerts which hosts prominent musicians from all over the world.
Recently, the festival management began receiving threats from various sources claiming that this performance is but an “Israeli provocation” and they plan to foil it.
Festival management speculated that the threats came from flotilla activists, but were not sure.
Erez and his ensemble were attacked via their Facebook pages with statements such as, “You Israeli pigs killed nine of our people and never apologized.”
In order to disrupt the show, the group booked 14 tickets for the concert, the festival management said, and out of concern for the guest artists’ security, it decided on Friday to cancel the show.
The event first drew attention when the Israeli Consulate in Turkey advertised the concert on its Facebook page, the festival management said on Saturday night.
When the concert was canceled, Erez said he received a lot of supportive e-mails and posts on his page from all over the world, expressing sorrow over the cancellation.
Erez said he often performs in Turkey and is “proud to take part in creating a bridge between the two cultures. The local audiences are always supportive and receive me very well, and I adamantly believe, that although there still are extremist organizations which try to create chaos and destruction, this does not reflect the mood of the majority of the Turkish people.”
He added, “Through music we shall remind to them and to ourselves that in may ways our peoples are similar and that there still is an opportunity to return to normalcy, if not in this show so maybe in the next.”