Greek singer Despina Vandi refuses to go on stage at a concert in Turkey because of a flag dispute

ANKARA, Türkiye – Greek pop star Despina Vandi refused to perform on a stage in Turkey adorned with the flag and portrait of the country’s founding father, prompting the local mayor to ask her to leave her city, according to press reports Turkish.

The 54-year-old singer was due to perform at a benefit concert in Cesme, a Turkish resort town west of Izmir, on Wednesday night. She refused to attend after authorities refused her request to remove the flag and poster of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, state-run Anadolu agency reported.

The incident comes at a time when the leaders of Turkey and Greece are trying to improve their difficult relations.

In a post on Instagram, Vandi expressed her respect to the audience who “honored me with their presence at my show”. But she criticized the organizers, the Turkish Education Foundation, for turning the event from a concert into “a forbidden and unagreed upon political connotation”.

“My participation in the said event is not possible,” she wrote.

The crowd that filled Cesme’s open-air amphitheater expressed their disappointment with boos when the reason for their decision not to attend was announced, according to Sozcu newspaper.

“There is no power that can force us to take down our flag or Ataturk’s poster,” Anadolu quoted Cesme mayor Lal Denizli as saying to the crowd. “Don’t boo her; I don’t think it’s worth getting tired and losing breath.”

She continued, “This lady should leave this (city) limits immediately.”

Neighbors Turkey and Greece have been at odds for decades over a range of issues, including territorial claims, and have come to the brink of war three times in the past half century.

The leaders of the two countries met several times last year in an attempt to strengthen a process aimed at normalizing ties.

The Sozcu 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.