Joke told by Mustafa Keser on stage turns into a political crisis: Threat from MHP deputy

Keser made a statement following the reactions to the words “Is there any difference between a person from Kayseri and a Jew, my son?” which he used in a joke during one of his concerts.

Arguing that there is no situation that requires an apology, Keser said, “If there were a situation here that required an apology, I would apologize ten times over. I possess that virtue. However, there is no situation to apologize for.” Sharing the full version of the joke, the artist also announced that his Kayseri concert scheduled for May 15 had been canceled by the venue authorities. Stating that he and his team were victimized, Keser reacted to the situation with the words, “Shame on them.”

Mustafa Keser also responded with harsh expressions to AKP Kayseri Deputy Şaban Çopuroğlu, who criticized him.

Arguing that the issue was unnecessarily linked to religious values, the artist said of Çopuroğlu, “I felt sadness and concern that a person who is devoid of intellect, who does not understand what he reads or hears, and who is humor-deficient to the point of bringing the subject to religious values when it has nothing to do with it, is serving for me in the parliament. Is he going to serve the country with this mindset? May God protect us.”

Keser included the following statements in his explanation:

'Respected people of Kayseri, for a few days now, reactions and insults have been published on social media claiming that I insulted the people of Kayseri in a joke I told during my stage program.

Thank God, there are also sensible people who understand what I am saying and understand what they read. They have written their positive reactions in response to the negative reactions shown. I convey my thanks to them as well.

Thank God, I am in my right mind. I am a stage performer. Why would I insult the people of any province? Am I crazy? Why would I insult them, shoot myself in the foot, and play with my livelihood? Friends who show misplaced reactions can rejoice. My May 15 Kayseri concert was canceled by the venue authorities.

Thank God, I have fans in every corner of my country. Unfortunately, in today's economic conditions, many of them do not have the means to come to night venues and pay 8,000-10,000€ to watch me live. For this reason, I decided to organize hall concerts.

I wanted people to have the opportunity to watch me for a low fee. I don't even make an income for myself from these concerts. I even lost money on some of them.

I organize the ticket prices for hall concerts to cover expenses such as transportation, accommodation, technical equipment, protocol, security, health services, advertising, etc. I am trying to offer this service to the public at the age of 81, entirely with my own budget, without receiving support from any institution or organization.

The part that is important to me is that I have 20 musicians and stage staff working with me. Indirectly, 150 people, including children, earn their bread from me for each concert. Let them rejoice, even be proud, that they are playing with the bread of my colleagues. Shame on them. I have many friends and family acquaintances in Kayseri. They were also saddened by the situation.

Among those who reacted negatively, there is also a Kayseri deputy. I felt sad on behalf of the people of Kayseri. I even felt sad for myself. You know, after deputies are elected, they declare, "I am now the deputy of the entire nation, I will serve everywhere." I felt sadness and concern that a person who is devoid of intellect, who does not understand what he reads or hears, and who is humor-deficient to the point of bringing the subject to religious values when it has nothing to do with it, is serving for me in the parliament. Is he going to serve the country with this mindset? May God protect us.

If there were a situation here that required an apology, I would apologize ten times over. I possess that virtue. However, there is no situation to apologize for. I am publishing the video of the entire joke I told you on stage. Please watch and listen carefully. The judgment is yours. Respectfully."

REACTION HAD COME FROM THE AKP DEPUTY...

AKP Kayseri Deputy Şaban Çopuroğlu criticized Keser in a post on his social media account and used the following expressions:

'It is no one's place to mock our religion or to speak ill of Kayseri and the people of Kayseri.

I condemn these insolent and vulgar expressions with regret.'

JOINED THE DEBATE

MHP's Baki Ersoy criticized the artist for responding to AKP's Çopuroğlu with the following words:

'Mustafa Keser is an 81-year-old individual and should be able to carry his own weight.

If you confuse an artist with a clown, our fellow citizens from Kayseri, as well as our deputy, who acts as a bridge between the state and the nation and is the voice and spokesperson of the people, will show you the reaction you understand and deserve.

Instead of apologizing to Kayseri and the people of Kayseri for these unnecessary polemics, you continue to be disrespectful and insolent to our deputy by personalizing the issue. If our deputy gave you the alms of his intellect, you would live for a lifetime!

I am writing here by raising the stakes, and I keep my word; those who know me know well. From this hour on, you will not be able to perform in any program in Kayseri while we are still breathing.

If you say, "No, I will perform," then I say to you; no, this is Kayseri, the game is broken here.'