Robbie Williams Cancels Show In Turkey Due To 'Public Safety' Concerns

Robbie Williams has cancelled the final stop on his BRITPOP tour, which was set to take place in Turkey, due to “public safety” concerns.

The Angels singer was scheduled to perform at Atakoy Marina in Istanbul on Tuesday (7 October), but taking to his Instagram Stories, he confirmed that the show was off and that he was “extremely sorry” to disappoint fans.

Reuters reports that Turkish NGOs and social media users had been campaigning for the concert to be cancelled over the last few days.

Williams’ concert would have taken place on the second anniversary of the Hamas attack on Southern Israeli communities at the Nova Music Festival, which spawned a two-year war in which Israel has been accused of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Pro-Palestine NGOs and Turkish social media events have reportedly called for the concert to be cancelled, citing Williams’ 2015 performance in Israel, which drew criticism from pro-Palestinian groups.

The ticketing company, Bubilet, reportedly cancelled the concert at the request of the Istanbul Governor’s Office.

In his statement, Williams also stated that “city authorities” had cancelled the show.

“I’m extremely sorry that I will not be able to perform in Istanbul next week. City authorities have cancelled the show, in the interests of public safety,” Williams wrote in a since-expired Instagram Story, per NME. “The last thing I would ever want to do is to jeopardise the safety of my fans - their safety and security come first.”

Citing his “close connections” with Turkey – Williams is married to Turkish-born Ayda Field Williams – the singer continued:

“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.

Robbie Williams recently announced that his forthcoming album, BRITPOP, would be pushed back from a 10 October release to a 6 February 2026 release due to “scheduling issues.”

Originally announced in May, Williams revealed that he aimed to create the album that he “wanted to write and release” following his departure from Take That in 1995.

An album that returns to the peak of Britpop, Williams said he worked with some of his heroes to present an album that’s “raw” and contains more guitars.

He added, “It’s an album that’s even more upbeat and anthemic than usual. There’s some ‘Brit’ in there and there’s certainly some ‘pop’ too – I’m immensely proud of this as a body of work and I’m excited for fans to hear this album.”