Zeynep Bastık, whose Harbiye concert was canceled due to national mourning: Should the first thing expected when sharing a tragedy be the cancellation of concerts?
Singer Zeynep Bastık reacted to the fact that arts events were the first to be canceled in Turkey following the declaration of a "3-day national mourning" by Presidential Decree.
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Following Israel's hospital attack in Gaza, a "3-day national mourning" was declared in Turkey by Presidential Decree.
After the declaration of mourning, many cultural and arts events were canceled. Following the cancellations, singer Zeynep Bastık announced on her social media account that her concert at the Harbiye Open Air Stage on October 20 had been postponed due to the national mourning.
Stating that she was extremely saddened by the events, the singer reacted to the fact that the first action taken was the cancellation of arts activities.
Bastık used the following expressions in her post on her social media account:
''We are all extremely saddened by the war and the lives lost; we are under the influence of the horrific images. However, like everyone else, we have a profession and a job that we have to continue. Should the first and only thing expected when sharing a tragedy be the cancellation of concerts, theater plays, and all arts activities—that is, the work that people have spent months of financial and moral effort on?
We are a huge sector. We are a large sector full of artists and laborers who are trying to exist despite many difficulties, where thousands of people take bread home, and which is conducted with seriousness. Just like people in other sectors, we have responsibilities, families, and a life we have to maintain. If a decision is to be made, we respect it. We have already been in mourning unofficially for days. I just want to understand why sharing a tragedy means stopping the work of thousands of people and preventing them from practicing their profession; I cannot understand it.''