The July 7 show scheduled for the city’s ancient Byzantine Yedikule Fortress (seven towers) has already been downgraded from the larger Kurecesme Arena, while some local newspaper reports are saying it’s already canceled.

Reports in Turkish Daily News suggest the show is “dead in its tracks,” while The Hindu – the region’s largest English-language newspaper – is saying it’s being scaled down.

Charity organizers Purple Concerts, the company legendary European promoter Marcel Avram set up with Alan Cattanach and Cengzihan Yeldan after he split with Peter Schwenkow’s Germany-based DEAG nearly two years ago, are insisting it’s still going ahead.

The scaled-down version looks likely to feature top national acts and feeds displaying international acts performing at the other Live Earth sites.

It wasn’t possible to get comment from Avram at press time.

“Sponsorship and state support is zero. Nobody is interested,” Yeldan told the Turkish Daily News. He said the government is preoccupied with the July 22 elections and the fear of terrorist attacks.

A day earlier, a story in Hindu News had Yeldan denying Turkish news reports saying the show was off.

Former U.S. vice president Al Gore, who’s driving the nine shows scheduled for July 7, held a June 12 press conference at Istanbul’s Cirgan Palace to kick-start the Turkish leg of the global shows.

He’s now being reported to be writing to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to ask for more support.

Apart from Istanbul, the July 7 shows are slated for New York, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro and Hamburg.