In an official statement circulated by his record label, Essay, Shantel stated:

"Turkish officials denied my entry at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport yesterday. I have visited Turkey numerous times in the past years and was happy to play concerts, parties and TV shows. I was on my way to Ankara to play a concert over there. Right at the passport control my passport and flight ticket were taken away. No reason was given.

I had to stay the next 10 hours in the transit zone - nobody informed me about what was going on. I was authorized to make just one phone call and didn't get any drink or food. Police officers escorted me to the last outgoing aircraft to Frankfurt am Main and I had to leave Turkey directly.

The Turkish police was very polite and I had the impression that they were extremely embarrassed. They were asking for photos and autographs, and even proposed that I could stay the night on the sofa in the office of the chief of the border police."

Investigating
With four albums released in Turkey, as well as appearing twice on Turkey's popular 'Beyaz Show,' not to mention holding a residency at the nightclub Babylon, Shantel's management company and record label are attempting to find out the details of why he was detained.

Shantel (real name: Stefan Hantel) gained popularity in Turkey after recording the video clip of 'Disko Partizani' in Istanbul. The German producer and DJ is known for his work with gypsy brass orchestras, DJing and remixing traditional Balkan music with electronic beats. His grandparents on the maternal side were from Bukovina. He was born in Frankfurt in 1968.