Dear Sami,

First of all, you should know or should have known how much you are appreciated among the Kurdish people all over the world. In fact, the vast majority of them happen to watch the TV station you condemned with injustice in your statement below. When I saw your statement, as one of the admirers of your music, I was in total shock. Because I also watched your interview the day it was aired. To be honest, I, like so many Kurds, was so happy to have you on ROJ TV.

As a person fluent in Kurdish, English and Turkish, I can assure you that your so called friend translated every word you said. However, it was clearly seen from his face and voice that he was so happy to be able to bring you to Kurdish people on their most watched TV station. I think, it was such an excitement that somehow led him to not only translate what you said but also explain what you mean. Therefore it seemed to me right thing to do that he gave more information regarding your music, your background and your position among Muslims in the world.

I’m afraid by making such a statement you have again been misled and misinformed. The channel could be belonged to a political party on official papers, however, it’s widely accepted as the main TV station of Kurdish people, especially in Turkey. When the statement is read carefully, it’s appearent that not even you can get rid of being misled by the incrediable misinformation machinery working against Kurds every hour of the day.

Your apology came almost after four years, which shows that you were under continous pressure due to your interview. Someone kept whispering to your ears that what you did was so wrong that even after many years you were belived to apologyze. So here is the fact from the Kurdish side, what you have done in 2006 was right, what you are doing now is wrong.

As a muslim public figure, you would accept that you have more responsibility than you think of. Showing, implying or enforcing that an appearance on Kurdish TVs is/was a mistake, you may forcefully divert the minds of other muslims against innocent nation of  all times.

Although, believing that you made an irreversible mistake, I hope that you will try to appear on other Kurdish TV stations that you or your advisors think are not as dangerous as ROJ TV.

Note: Something short about your blogg, why only positive comments about you are allowed there but not very positive but still useful comments that are writen by people like me are not allowed or erased the next day?

With my best regards and God bless you.

Brusk Baran

E-mail: [email protected]

2006 Roj TV appearance... An overdue apology and explanation...

Sami Yusuf

Peace be with you all, back in 2006, I made a very unwise decision which was to innocently accept an invitation for an interview on, as I had understood back then, a "cultural channel" catered for the Kurdish community. At the constant behest and insistence of one of my occasional guest musicians -- who happens to be of Kurdish origin -- my previous management finally agreed to do so but I had no idea what I was getting myself in for... I remember walking in and feeling a strange 'air' in the studio. I can't really explain it, but it certainly did not feel 'normal'. We start the interview and I suddenly see my Kurdish friend sitting beside me all 'geared' up for the interview :-) (I was thinking to myself, "wasn't this supposed to be a sami yusuf interview..."). Anyway, the presenter finds himself at odds because he is expecting our friend to translate but our friend's real intentions surfaced as it became clear this was more about his own self-interest and self-promotion than anything else :-) Anyway, it turned out to be hilarious as at one point the interviewer stopped the interview exclaiming "I brought you to translate for Sami Yusuf not to carry out the interview! Please just translate!" I genuinely felt bad for him as it was an awkward moment for us both : I realise that as a Muslim, artist and public personality myself and my previous management should have been much more cautious as things like this do not just reflect me, but -- if found in the wrong hands of certain spiteful individuals -- can reflect my faith and my community in a negative light. I want to take this opportunity to express my extremely overdue and heartfelt apology and regret for appearing on that TV Station. I was totally misled, manipulated not to mention hurt by the whole experience. When I stepped out of the studio, I asked my previous team "Did you actually do any research on who these people are? I didn't feel 'good' at all..." to which calls were made by my previous team to their distributors based in Turkey and we were made aware that I had just appeared on ROJ TV (widely accepted as being linked to the Kurdish separatist party PKK). I was left in absolute shock and disbelief... Lots of different feelings and thoughts were going through my head. Why was I led to believe that I was going to be appearing on a 'cultural/music' channel? Why wasn't more care taken to prevent such a thing from taking place? Lots and lots of "Whys". Most of all, I was angry with myself for being foolish enough to allow such gross abuse of my kindheartedness to take place. Naturally, the next step was to send the TV Station a harsh email demanding them NOT to release/broadcast the interview to which they agreed -- but did NOT honour! They aired the interview once, but it was enough to create substantial mess. After it was broadcast, the next obvious step would be to do what I'm doing now -- make a public statement! However, the Turkish based distributors at the time strongly advised against it, citing "in time, people will forget it... Don't make it into a bigger issue." The previous management also advised against it. In my heart, I knew 100% I should make a public statement, but I simply didn't feel I had the 'power' nor the sufficient resources to do so (i.e. my own blog, a website I controlled and oversaw nor the necessary TV contacts). This whole saga was simply 'ignored' which was definitely the wrong way to approach it. I cannot change what has happened. However, I can definitely testify that many things were learned -- one of those things is to not trust people too easily as we really don't know what agendas they have in store for us... I'm afraid this is the sad truth. Once again, I sincerely apologise for any offense I had caused and will strive to prevent a thing like this from happening ever again. I would also like to make it crystal clear that this isolated incident in no way reflects the deep love, respect and admiration I have for our vast and colorful Ummah -- which includes our beloved Kurdish brothers and sisters. But, I needed to clarify my position in that I do not, and will not, allow people to affiliate me to any particular movement or political party.

God bless you all.