A Turkish Cypriot singer caused uproar in Greece by performing a song at a concert praising the invasion of Turkish forces in Smyrna (Izmir) in 1922 that led to the destruction of the ancient Greek city.
Isin Karaca chose to perform the song Izmir Marsi at the concert Karaca organized by the Young Academics’ Association (Gat) in Komotini, northern Greece, a city that has a substantial Muslim population that Turkey recognizes as a Turkish minority.
The song’s lyrics refer to the entry of Mustafa Kemal’s forces into Izmir during the Greco-Turkish War in 1922. Shortly after the Turkish forces arrived in the city, much of it was on fire, and the Greeks of the city were forced to flee their ancestral homes.
For this reason, the song is deemed offensive by Greeks, and such was the case after Karaca’s performance on Sunday night.
Local media were outraged by the performance, with news website Evros News describing it as an “unacceptable provocation.”
Another news website, Komotini Press, said Karaca had “committed an indecency on Greek soil by insulting even her Greek co-funders.”
These reports were then picked up by opposition party Syriza MP Rena Dourou, who described the concert as “Turkish revisionism in action in Thrace” and also called on the Greek foreign ministry to respond.
“Otherwise, silence means acceptance and all that it implies,” she said.
In an Instagram post, Karaca, who was born into a Turkish Cypriot family which emigrated to the United Kingdom, defended her performance and hit back at her Greek critics. “You cannot write with lies and deceit, and hit me below the belt,” she said.
“You cannot criticize the magnificent people who come on stage and sing in Turkish and Greek. You cannot charge anyone for the great love I experienced on stage with the children. We are human beings first and foremost!” she added.
Turkish singer’s provocation in Greece a response to Vandi incident?
Some social media users commented that Karaca’s provocation was in response to Greek singer Despina Vandi, who recently refused to take the stage at a concert in Turkey over a flag dispute.
The Greek pop star refused to perform on stage in Cesme, a Turkish resort town west of Izmir, with the Turkish flag and a portrait of the country’s founding father, Kemal Ataturk, behind her. This prompted the local mayor to request that she leave the town.
In an Instagram post, Vandi expressed her respect to the audience which “honored me with their presence at my concert.” But she criticized the organizers, the Turkish Education Foundation, for changing the concert into an event with “a prohibited and non-agreed political connotation.”
“My participation in the said event is not possible,” she wrote.
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