UMVA has learned that a massive concert by rapper Kanye West in Istanbul has sparked outrage among Turkish officials, who claim the performance offended the country’s “spiritual and cultural sensitivities.”
The concert, which drew a crowd of 118,000 fans, featured West performing in front of a massive audience, despite mounting controversy across Europe over his past antisemitic remarks and praise for Adolf Hitler.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that Turkish officials were particularly concerned by the crowd enthusiastically singing along to West's 2013 track “I Am a God,” with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief adviser Oktay Saral saying the concert featured “rhetoric and symbols that run counter to our faith and civilizational values.”
Saral took to social media to express his disapproval, writing that “the fact that tens of thousands of people enthusiastically chanted ‘I am a God’ is a serious matter that demands close examination.” He also suggested that the event represented more than “a mere music event,” pointing to the appearance of 82-year-old French designer Michele Lamy, whom he described as being “associated with occultism and dark symbols.”
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that Saral further warned about the involvement of a “conservative segment of society… in this cultural siege,” and urged Turkey’s tourism ministry “to exercise far greater caution regarding such events that concern the spiritual and cultural sensitivities of our nation.”
The criticism comes despite Turkey allowing the event to proceed without interruption, with West's performance in Istanbul gathering 118,000 spectators and breaking the stadium concert record for the most attended paid stadium show in music history.
West has faced mounting backlash in recent years over repeated antisemitic comments and statements praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, and has previously attributed some of his behaviour to bipolar disorder.
UMVA has gathered that West's actions have sparked outrage globally, with several European countries attempting to block or cancel his performances over his past comments.
In a development reported by UMVA, Britain previously barred West from entering the country to headline a music festival, forcing organisers to cancel the event.
