Ruling AKP tells municipalities to cancel events during Egypt unrest

ANKARA

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has ordered all municipalities that it controls to cancel all events due to the ongoing unrest in Egypt, according to daily Hürriyet.

AKP officials sent instructions to all municipalities, ordering them to call off festivals and music and entertainment events because “hundreds of people, women and children, are falling as martyrs and thousands are being injured.”

The statement sent to each local authority said the party’s “pain and reaction” at the ongoing events in Egypt was very strong, adding that the cancellations could be reconsidered in the future pending a change in the situation.

The first cancelation after the statement was in the northern province of Kastamonu, where İhsangazi Municipality announced on Facebook that a local festival planned for Sept. 7-8 had been canceled.

The AKP has taken a strong stance against the Egypt coup, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan frequently bringing the subject up in his speeches and slamming foreign countries’ stance on the ongoing conflict.

On Aug. 20, meanwhile, Erdoğan accused the Israeli government of being responsible for the coup, prompting incredulity from a host of global actors.