Singer Omar Suleiman banned from entering Turkey for undisclosed reasons

Turkish media reported that the authorities prevented Syrian singer Omar Suleiman from entering Turkey, which led to the cancellation of his concert, which was scheduled to be held, at the "Roxy" club in the city of Istanbul.

According to İlke TV, Suleiman was scheduled to perform a concert on July 15 in conjunction with the two  concerts of the British band Gorillaz in Istanbul, but he was prevented from entering the country while he was preparing to board the plane from Aleppo International Airport to Istanbul, where he was returned from the airport without announcing any official reasons so far, in a move that raised widespread questions about the background of the decision and its connection to the former artist's record in Turkey.

Turkish authorities did not explain why the singer was banned from entering the country, nor did there be any official comment on the incident.

Previous arrest in 2021

The management of the Roxy Hall and the booking system "Biletix"  informed the public of the cancellation of the event via urgent messages, citing "  problems faced by the artist in the visa procedures", while the organisers began refunding the value of the tickets sold, which amounted to about 400 tickets.

Suleiman was supposed to appear in Istanbul in conjunction with the concerts of the British  band "Gorillaz", with which he collaborated for many years, which increased the impact of the cancellation on his audience.

Suleiman, who hails from Ras al-Ain, is known for mixing Syrian and Euphrates folk music with electronic rhythms, and has achieved global reach through works such as "Wenu Wenu." He also resided for years in the state of Sanliurfa after leaving Syria in 2011, before moving to Sweden.

He was previously detained by Turkish police in 2021 on charges of "propaganda and affiliation" with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the People's Protection Units (YPG), before releasing him because the charges were not proven, according to Turkish websites.