Turkish Cypriot entertainment venue La Nouba has accused international festival giant EXIT of an “unjustified breach of contract” over its unilateral withdrawal from a major music event in North Cyprus, and has warned it could seek substantial financial compensation over the cancellation.
The strongly worded response from La Nouba, published on Wednesday, comes several weeks after Serbia-founded EXIT pulled out of NEXUS, which was due to take place near Girne Castle on 18 September with a line-up of international electronic music stars.
EXIT’s withdrawal followed an intense campaign by Greek Cypriot politicians and officials opposed to an international event being staged in North Cyprus.
La Nouba says EXIT informed it shortly before the event that it was withdrawing because of “political and reputational concerns relating to the event’s location”.
The Turkish Cypriot company rejects those grounds and says that, in the legal assessment of MUSMER TRADING LTD — the contracting party behind La Nouba — they do not justify EXIT failing to honour the agreement.
“In the legal assessment of MUSMER TRADING LTD, the contracting party, EXIT’s conduct constitutes an unjustified breach of contract,” its statement said.
The company also rejected any suggestion it had failed to meet its own obligations and said its lawyers were examining the dispute, “including its international dimensions”.
MUSMER has expressly reserved its right to seek the reimbursement of sums already paid, compensation for losses already incurred and future losses, as well as any other legal remedies available under the agreements.
Greek Cypriot politicians campaigned for cancellation
The circumstances surrounding EXIT’s abrupt withdrawal are likely to form a central part of any legal dispute.
There is extensive public evidence of efforts from South Cyprus to stop the festival.
DISY MEP Loucas Fourlas wrote directly to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić asking him to intervene to prevent NEXUS taking place, while far-right ELAM MEP Geadis Geadi also campaigned against the festival. Reports in the Greek Cypriot press said the South Cyprus Foreign Ministry had become involved through diplomatic channels.
When EXIT’s withdrawal emerged, Geadi himself presented the outcome as following interventions he had made, while Greek Cypriot media reported that diplomatic and political pressure had been exerted over the event.
La Nouba highlighted precisely this sequence of events in its statement.
“Reports and statements in the Greek Cypriot press have attributed EXIT’s withdrawal to initiatives undertaken by certain political representatives,” it said.
It added that the fact EXIT withdrew following these initiatives, coupled with attempts by political figures to claim the decision as the result of their intervention, “raises serious questions as to whether political pressure played a role in that decision”.
‘Turkish Cypriots are not a community to be cut off from the world’
For La Nouba, however, the dispute goes considerably further than the money it may have lost.
The club said it had entered the NEXUS partnership “with great enthusiasm, good faith and trust”, not only to stage another major international music event but to demonstrate that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is capable of hosting major international cultural and tourism events.
Its track record backs up the point that international entertainment in North Cyprus is hardly new.
This summer alone, La Nouba has hosted major British stars Craig David and Tinie Tempah, along with Ministry of Sound, while last summer saw international dance brands Zamna and Defected stage events in North Cyprus.
Zamna is also due to return to the island for another major event in the Old Walled City of Lefkoşa on 10 October.
La Nouba said the exclusion of Turkish Cypriots from international culture, sport and entertainment through political pressure must not become normalised.
“The Turkish Cypriot people are not a community to be cut off from the world. Culture and the arts must not be used to punish communities or turned into instruments of political disputes.”
It argued that an artist performing in North Cyprus — or an international organisation staging an event there — does not amount to endorsement of a particular political position.
“Music exists to bring people closer together, not to reinforce boundaries, prejudice and division,” it added.
La Nouba also stressed that its objection was not directed at ordinary Greek Cypriots. It said it wanted Turkish and Greek Cypriots to live alongside each other with “mutual respect, equality and peace”, but opposed initiatives which turn “art, culture and international commercial relations into instruments of political pressure”.
Its final message to EXIT was equally uncompromising.
“We do not accept the abandonment of commercial and legal obligations on the grounds of subsequent political pressure,” the statement said, arguing that international organisations should “honour their contracts and stand by the unifying power of the arts”.
Although MUSMER says it remains prepared to seek a solution through “good-faith and constructive discussions”, it stressed that this should not be interpreted as accepting EXIT’s withdrawal or waiving its legal rights.
The statement, signed by MUSMER TRADING LTD / La Nouba director Mustafa Öztürk, concludes: “The Turkish Cypriot people are an equal and dignified part of the international cultural and artistic community. No political pressure can take away their right to connect with the world.”
What does EXIT say?
EXIT, for its part, has defended its decision to withdraw.
The Serbian organisation, which grew out of a student movement promoting peace and freedom in the Balkans, said that when it accepted the invitation to take part in NEXUS it was aware of the Cyprus conflict and division of the island, but “did not fully understand how deeply its consequences are still felt today”.
EXIT said it had been encouraged by the fact that numerous international artists and global brands had previously held events in North Cyprus and initially believed music could provide a space for people to connect.
However, after NEXUS was announced, EXIT said it listened to concerns, spoke with people representing different perspectives and with institutions in Cyprus, and came to appreciate what it described as the “profound historical and emotional significance” of Girne and its castle for Greek Cypriots.
It consequently expressed “sincere and profound regret” for agreeing to participate and pulled out.
Crucially, EXIT acknowledged at the time that its decision would have a price. It said withdrawing from a project already under way carried “serious legal and financial consequences”, but maintained that, based on what it had subsequently learned, leaving NEXUS was “the responsible and right decision”.
EXIT also insisted its decision was not directed against any Cypriot community and said it hoped there could be another opportunity to participate in an event where the focus could remain solely on “the people, the music, and the experience we share”.
Growing anger over attempts to isolate Turkish Cypriots
The NEXUS controversy has taken on added significance because it comes amid several other recent instances of Greek Cypriot political and institutional pressure against international organisations engaging with North Cyprus or acknowledging its Turkish Cypriot population.
A planned FC Barcelona youth academy camp in North Cyprus was pulled after interventions involving the Cyprus Football Association and other Greek Cypriot political actors. The CFA’s own president subsequently told the Cyprus News Agency that its intervention had led to the cancellation.
In Britain, ITV Studios apologised after the National Federation of [Greek] Cypriots in the UK complained about a Coronation Street storyline referring simply to the “Turkish” and “Greek” sides of Cyprus — an apology that has itself prompted formal complaints from British Turkish Cypriots concerned that ITV had privileged one community’s political narrative over the identity and lived reality of the other.
Taken together, the episodes have fuelled growing anger among Turkish Cypriots who regard such interventions not as legitimate objections to recognition of the TRNC, but as attempts to prevent their community from participating in ordinary international cultural, sporting and commercial life.
For La Nouba, that is now the principle at the heart of its dispute with EXIT, alongside ensuring that international organisations fulfil their contractual agreements and do not walk away from their commercial commitments even if they come under political pressure to do so.
