There has been a crackdown on female pop artists in Turkey, forcing one K-pop-inspired group called Manifest to cancel the rest of their tour after officials under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the band members “immoral, shameless, demonic creatures.”
The all-girl group has been wildly popular in Turkey after releasing its debut album in July with a two-day festival in Istanbul and kicking off a tour that ended with a sold-out performance on Sept. 6 where the six singers took the stage in tight, revealing outfits.
The spectacle drew 12,000 dancing fans — and prompted an investigation by the public prosecutor’s office for “indecent and immoral acts” and “exhibitionism” after claiming the singers “violated and offended the feelings of shame, morality and the moral values of society.”
A chief adviser to Erdogan posted a photo to X of the women with their bodies blurred out and demanded legal action to prevent them from carrying out “further alleged exhibitionist acts.”
The singers released a statement that they had testified to the prosecutor and were released and added that they “never intended to offend anyone or disregard sensitivities” with their show.
After the interrogation, they also canceled their tour, which had sold out weeks earlier.
This isn’t the first time female artists have been targeted by the Turkish government for offending moral or religious sensibilities, and there has been an increased wave of repression of opposition figures in general — including Istanbul Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu, who was arrested on corruption charges in March. He was Erdogan’s main rival in the election, according to CNN.
