Turkey: Turkish rock artists join forces for a charity concert in Istanbul to support victims of earthquake in Van

Dozens of well-known Turkish rock acts, including Anatolian Rock giants Moğollar and popular alternative rockers Mor ve Ötesi, are joining forces for a charity concert on Sunday in İstanbul, the proceeds of which will be used as earthquake relief for Van.

“Van İçin Rock” (Rock for Van) is an independent initiative that came about through the efforts of the participating musicians, without any corporate involvement. The concert will take place Sunday afternoon at the Maçka Küçükçiftlik Park open-air concert area, and all proceeds will be donated to the Turkish Red Crescent to help relief efforts in Van, the eastern Anatolian province that was hit by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on Sunday. The earthquake killed around 300 people and left thousands injured and homeless.

“We, as musicians, in an environment where solidarity is most needed, have decided to come together to support Van with what we do best, our music,” said a statement posted on the concert’s website, www.vanicinrock.org.

Forty acts from the Turkish rock scene, including singer/songwriters Aylin Aslım, Şebnem Ferah and Emre Aydın, and bands Duman, Gripin, Kurban, Redd and Yüksek Sadakat, were confirmed as of Tuesday afternoon to be taking part in the event, whose tickets went on sale the same day through www.biletix.com.

Other confirmed acts include singer/songwriter Aydilge, guitarists Cem Köksal, Demir Demirkan and Ete Kurttekin, and the bands Gece Yolcuları, Malt and Marsis. The doors will open at 11 a.m. Sunday. Tickets are priced at TL 20. Biletix announced it would not charge a service fee for tickets bought through its system.

As rockers came together for relief efforts, cancellation announcements came from numerous art events and festivals in Turkey due to the quake, including the 22nd edition of the Efes Pilsen Blues Festival. The festival’s organizers, who canceled last weekend’s two-concert İstanbul leg of the event due to the previous week’s terrorist attacks in the eastern province of Hakkari that left 24 Turkish soldiers dead, said in a written statement on Tuesday that the rest of the program, which was scheduled to run through Oct. 29, has been called off entirely.

Producers of the two most eagerly anticipated Turkish films of the season, “Anadolu Kartalları” (Anatolian Eagles) and “Behzat Ç. Seni Kalbime Gömdüm” (Behzat Ç. I Buried You in My Heart), both scheduled to open this week, announced they would not hold premieres ahead of Friday’s theatrical releases of their films.

The Sixth International Dadaş Film Festival in the eastern city of Erzurum called off its opening gala and postponed its honor awards ceremony from Oct. 24 to Oct. 28, the closing day of the festival.

For more details on Van İçin Rock, check the event’s website, www.vanicinrock.org. Updates can also be followed via http://twitter.com/vanicinrock.

25 October 2011,
SOURCE: TODAY’S ZAMAN