Turkish pianist removed from Swiss concert programme after Gaza tweet
Swiss retailer Migros has excluded Turkish pianist Fazil Say from a series of concerts after he tweeted about the conflict in the Middle East. The musician shared on the X network (formerly Twitter) a statement by Turkish President Erdogan attributing the strike on the Al Ahli hospital in Gaza to Israel.
At issue are “Fazil Say’s public statements following the terrorist attack on Israel, which are not defensible for Migros,” a spokeswoman for the Federation of Migros Cooperatives told Keystone-ATS over the weekend, confirming a report in the Swiss daily Blick.
+ Swiss condemn rocket attack on Gaza hospital
In his message published on X, Fazil Say shared a post by Erdogan in which he attributed the fatal rocket strike on the Al Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip to Israel. Say thanked Erdogen for his sensible explanation and called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be brought to justice. He also said that all people must do something to stop this war.
Instead of Fazil Say, Swiss pianist Louis Schwizgebel will perform with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. The concerts are scheduled for October 23-26 in Zurich, Bern, Geneva and Lucerne.
In reaction to this decision, Fazil Say published a statement on his X account. “Everything I’ve written remains on my social media without any changes,” he said. “I am for peace, and all my statements were in the spirit of peace. And I have always been in favor of the good, of compromise, and of jointly seeking a beautiful future.”
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