It is accused of being a member of the Syrian Kurdish YPG organization (People’s Protection Units), considered by Ankara as a terrorist group as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), located in Turkey .
Le Monde with AFP and Reuters
It’s a legend musician. The Syrian singer Omar Souleyman, who has acquired international notoriety by combining traditional Syrian and electro music, was arrested on Wednesday 17 November by the Turkish police, announced his agent at the France-Press agency (AFP). The Syrian Electro-Folk star, which has been in Turkey for several years, has been arrested in the city of Sanliurfa, 50 km from the Syrian border.
A research notice had been issued against Omar Almasikh – his true name – and Turkish gendarmes arrested him in the province of Sanliurfa near the Syrian border. The Sianlufa governorate confirmed this arrest at AFP, without any other detail.
The singer has been led to the hospital to pass medical exams and should be transferred to a gendarmerie to be heard. His agent assured that the singer, aged 55, would be released “within a few hours”.
According to the daily Daily Yeni Safak and the DHA press agency, it is accused of “being a member of the Terrorist PKK / YPG organization”. Ankara considers the people’s protection units (YPG), the main Kurdish militia in Syria, as an emanation of the Kurdistan workers’ party (PKK), classified as “terrorist” by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
Keffieh red and white and black sunglasses
Souleyman, who started his career singing in the weddings in Syria, appears in his clips with a red and white keffieh and thick black sunglasses. The singer fled Syria after the trigger of civil war, in 2011, to settle in Turkey, where he opened a bakery.
The Tubes of Omar Souleyman, including Warni Warni, which totals nearly 100 million views on YouTube, opened the doors of international festivals, like Villette Sonique, in 2009, the Eurockean of Belfort in 2010, Glastonbury In 2011, South by Southwest (SXSW ), to the Texas, or Pitchfork Festival in Paris, in 2013. He had also occurred during the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in December 2013. He also collaborated with artists, such as the Icelandic singer Björk or the British musician Four tet.