A social media storm has erupted in Turkey this week, with Turkish youth calling on international artists to join them in boycotting Istanbul-based promoters DBL Entertainment. The boycott follows comments made by owner Abdülkadir Özkan, who referred to the ongoing protests in Istanbul as an "act of treason" on X, and is part of a wave of economic actions being taken throughout the country.

In the two weeks since Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested on dubious charges of corruption, the city has seen millions of people taking to the streets in wide-ranging protests against Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government. It’s no coincidence, after all, that İmamoğlu was seen to be Erdoğan's primary opposition candidate in the next election. To date, more than 2000 people have been arrested in connection with the protests, including university students and several Turkish and foreign journalists.

Norwegian singer/songwriter Ane Brun, who regularly sells out shows in Turkey, was the first artist to make a public show of solidarity with the Turkish youth. She was scheduled to play in Istanbul this October under DBL’s banner but immediately took action to cancel the performance on learning about the boycott, winning her tens of thousands of new fans.

Today, British trio Muse followed suit, a day before tickets for their Istanbul show were due to go on sale.

DBL announced yesterday that they would be withdrawing their involvement in the performances to allow another promoter to take over, but for many of the Turkish protestors this action isn’t enough.

Pressure is now growing on Robbie Williams to cancel his October 7 show in Istanbul, for which tickets appear to still be on sale. If the show does go ahead, it will be his first ever performance in the city – and quite possibly the last.