AKP mayor plays detective to find musician's LGBTI+ related posts, cancel her concert
An AKP district municipality canceled musician Gökçe's concert in Afyon province due to “her support to LGBT.” The district mayor himself stalked the musician's social media accounts to find relevant posts.
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Ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Afyon province Sandıklı district mayor Mustafa Çöl has announced that the municipality cancelled musician Gökçe’s concert on the grounds of "her support of LGBTI and slander against the president,” according to reporting of daily BirGün.
Islamist associations have been conducting hate campaigns to cancel the concerts of musicians who show their support for LGBTI+ and women’s rights since the summer season started.
The mayor said that he had “personally investigated” Gökçe and shared the posts he found on the artist's Twitter account. “Love whom you want. Love is love,” Gökçe wrote in one of her post that was targeted by the mayor’s hate speech.
Another post includes a colorful flower with the caption of “Love is love” and “Pride 2019.”
“As we always say, we are the sons of this country. We do not accept anyone who harms neither our president nor our sacred values! Let those who share this content not step onto the stage in Sandıklı, they cannot enter the boundaries of our district,” the mayor wrote.
During summer, several AKP and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) municipalities cancelled public concerts of pro-LGBTI+ musicians including Cem Adrian, Melike Şahin, and Mabel Matiz.
Turkish authorities in 2023 has escalated its crackdown on the country's LGBTI+ community especially during the elections. While top officials made several hate speeches against the marginalized community, nearly all public events organized by the LGBTI+ associations were banned as well.