Artist News

J-Lo caught up in Cypriot politics

By | Published on Monday 12 July 2010

Jennifer Lopez has called off a show in North Cyprus after she found herself caught up in the Mediterranean island’s long running political conflict.

J-Lo had been due to play at the launch of a new luxury hotel in the Turkish-controlled North of the country on her birthday, 24 Jul. But the plans caused outrage among Greek Cypriots, who do not recognise the legitimacy of the independently controlled North of the island, which has been separately controlled by Turkish Cypriots since 1974. They argued that J-Lo playing in the region gave credence to what they still consider an illegal country.

Despite relations between the North and South of Cyprus being less aggressive in recent years, tensions still very much exist. As soon as Lopez’s appearance at the hotel launch was announced, Greek Cypriots began an online campaign pressuring the singer to cancel her performance. The campaign included various claims of human rights violations by the rulers in the North of the island.

Lopez was initially quiet about the campaign, but last week a statement was posted on her website confirming she’d cancelled the Cypriot booking. The statement said the singer had decided against performing at the hotel launch after undertaking “a full review of the relevant circumstances in Cyprus”, adding: “Jennifer Lopez would never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse”.

Greek Cypriots hailed Lopez’s decision as a “victory”, while Turkish groups criticised both the campaign and the singer’s resulting decision, claiming things like this only hinder efforts to reunite the island.



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