Kanye West Set to Kick Off Summer Tour in Istanbul, With Fans Expected to Flock From Countries Where He’s Been Banned

Kanye West is set to hold a massive concert on Saturday at Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium, which will kick off his summer tour following cancellations in the U.K., France, Switzerland and Poland due to the rapper’s antisemitic remarks.

West, now known as Ye, will perform on a globe-shaped stage at the Istanbul event before embarking on his first European tour in 11 years. Though the U.K. government blocked Ye from entering the country and several other European nations followed, fans are now traveling to Istanbul from the U.K., the U.S., Germany, Poland, Russia and Kazakhstan to catch the concert, according to organizer Erdem Karahan.

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Karahan, the founder of ILS Vision which is organizing the Istanbul concert in tandem with TemaCC, told Turkish media that ancillary revenue from foreign visitors attending the Ye Istanbul concert is expected to generate between $50 million to $100 million between accommodations, transportation and food and beverage spend. Alcohol is reportedly banned on the premises.

Organizers at ILS Vision are targeting an audience of up to 120,000, with 75,000 tickets already sold.

“If we reach 99,000 [people in the audience], Istanbul will have broken the world record for the largest single concert,” Karahan said in a statement to Turkish media.

Besides several Turkish artists who will open the evening — including Sena Sener, Motive, Lvbel C5, Yener Cevik, Mavi, and Pera — Karahan told Turkish media he expects U.S. rapper Travis Scott to be on stage to perform the pair’s collaborative track “Father” from West’s latest album, “Bully.” North West, Kanye West’s daughter with ex-wife Kim Kardashian, is also expected to perform.

West — who previously said “I Love Nazis” on social media, sold T-shirts with a swastika on his website and last year released a song called “Heil Hitler” — published a full-page apology in the Wall Street Journal in January, attributing his behavior to manic episodes caused by bipolar disorder.

For the remainder of his European tour, West is scheduled to perform in the Netherlands on June 6 and 8; Tirana, Albania on July 11; Reggio Emilia, Italy on July 18; and in Prague on July 25.