Terror concerns and online backlash forced Robbie Williams to abandon his Istanbul concert finale, with Turkish authorities cancelling Tuesday's Ataköy Marina performance over public safety risks. The 51-year-old British singer apologized to supporters after Turkiye Today reported that organizing companies cited security threats and social media controversy branding him a "Zionist" despite his Turkish family ties through his wife, Ayda Field.
October 7 marked both the scheduled concert date and the second anniversary of Hamas' assault on Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people – mostly civillians – and resulted in 251 hostages during the 2023 cross-border attack.
Williams told fans through social media that "City authorities have cancelled the show, in the interests of public safety. The last thing I would ever want to do is to jeopardise the safety of my fans – their safety and security come first. We were very excited to be playing Istanbul for the first time, and purposely chose the city as the final show of the Britpop tour. To end this epic run of dates in front of my Turkish fans was my dream, given the close connections my family have with this wonderful country. To everyone in Istanbul who wanted to join the 1.2 million people who have shared this phenomenal tour this year with us, I am deeply sorry. We were so looking forward to this show, but the decision to cancel it was beyond our control."
Thursday's Camden Dingwalls performance in London will showcase the singer's unreleased Britpop album alongside his 1997 debut Life Thru A Lens, representing his smallest ticketed show of the year. Williams' planned Istanbul finale would have concluded a tour that attracted 1.2 million attendees across London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Helsinki and Athens, before the cancellation intervened.
