Veteran Irish pop star and activist (?) Bob Geldof has drawn the ire of Greek Cypriots, who this week urged him to cancel a concert he is due to play on Friday in the Turkish-occupied north of the divided island.
The veteran Irish singer and his band, The Boomtown Rats, are set to play a free gig at the Eastern Mediterranean University in the port city of Famagusta – but the planned event has drawn widespread condemnation from Cyprus’ Greek-speaking community.
“A concert in the occupied north of Cyprus just goes to show the division between what you say & what you do!,” said one irate Twitter user.
Another accusing him of performing a personal publicity stunt.
#BoomtownRats A concert in the occupied north of Cyprus just goes to show the division between what you say & what you do! @eevriviades
— Nicholas Lestas (@nlestas) April 21, 2017
With due respect to #BobGeldof, Turkey occupies the north of Cyprus. If he stands for #humanrights he should not put his name to its abusers https://t.co/k2dm2or1Hp
— CyprusNewsReport.Com (@cnrcy) April 21, 2017
We had artists against #apartheid. Let's not have artists for apartheid in #Cyprus #BobGeldof #BoomTownRats #BoycottTurkishApartheidInCyprus pic.twitter.com/qh80sHuitb
— Lobby for Cyprus (@LobbyforCyprus) April 21, 2017
@aktakkka Shame on #Boomtownrats #BobGeldof for supporting Turkey's war crimes against 200,000 innocent civilians #ethniccleansing #occupation #Cyprus
— FreeCyprus (@FreeCyprus1) April 22, 2017
Shame. We are first generation refugees Ethnically cleansed by those hosting your appearance. Cancel
#BobGeldof— IOANNIS SHEKERSAVVAS (@ishekersavvas) April 22, 2017
The eastern Mediterranean island has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the northern third in response to an Athens-inspired coup seeking union with Greece.
Lobby for Cyprus, a UK-based Greek Cypriot pressure group also weighed in reminding Geldof of the Turkish invasion by posting a front page from the Sunday Times from the seventies. “Why not take a leaf out of JLo’s book? Still time to reconsider Turkish occupied #Cyprus performance,” it added.
#BobGeldof #TheBoomtownRats to perform in occupied #Cyprus yet ethnic cleansed refugees denied return @BobGeldofFans https://t.co/j6sdv8eoV3 pic.twitter.com/iCuFCzwkv3
— Lobby for Cyprus (@LobbyforCyprus) April 20, 2017
Geldof became widely known when he formed the pop charity Band Aid trust in 1984, which raised $8m for Africa famine relief through the release of the record Do They Know It’s Christmas?
In 1985, Live Aid concerts were held in London and Philadelphia, raising an additional $48 million.
In 2010, pop star Jennifer Lopez (JLo) was forced to cancel a gig in the north after Greek Cypriot reaction.
Lopez was slated to perform at the Cratos Premium Hotel and Casino complex on July 24, an event that Greek Cypriots said would have signaled support of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state. Lopez’s spokesperson eventually announced she would not play in Cyprus because of “sensitivity to the political realities of the region.”
Lopez pulled out of the gig following strong opposition from online campaigns, including complaints from the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA), which felt her appearance would help to legitimize the Turkish occupation.
Her handlers hit back at that criticism by releasing a statement that said she “would never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse.”
Decades of peace talks have failed to reunite Cyprus, and the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is still only recognised by Ankara.
Also other performers were forced to cancel concerts in Turkish-occupied territories of Cyprus.
In 2012, Julio Iglesias launched a lawsuit against Turkish Cypriot authorities after claiming he was duped into signing a contract to perform in the north.
Rihanna also cancelled a concert after a similar campaign. (AFP information), cyprusmail, twitter )
The concert was scheduled to take place on Friday, April 21th 2017.
KTG misses some updated on whether the concert was cancelled or not, but the storm on twitter continues.
