Robbie Williams cancels Istanbul concert over security concerns

Robbie Williams announced on Saturday that city authorities in Istanbul had canceled his scheduled concert at Atakoy Marina on Tuesday, October 7, citing public safety concerns, forcing the singer to call off the final show of his Britpop tour. Williams, 51, apologized to fans on Instagram, saying he was "extremely sorry that I will not be able to perform in Istanbul next week" and that "the last thing I would ever want to do is to jeopardise the safety of my fans their safety and security come first."

Organisers and officials described potential security risks and concerns about public backlash as the reasons for the decision. Williams said the cancellation was beyond his control and that the Istanbul date had been chosen deliberately as the tour finale because of his family's connections to Turkey. In his statement he added that he was "deeply sorry" to the fans in Istanbul and noted the tour had reached some 1.2 million people this year.

Some reports pointed out that the concert date coincided with the two year anniversary of the October 7 attacks in Israel, and organisers cited that timing among factors that heightened security concerns. Williams has previously faced...