Pakistani Singer Reunited with His Turkish Mother Years Later

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 28 March 2021)

Pakistani vocal artist Syed Yörgüç Tipu Sharif came into the world in

1978 as the son of a Pakistani pilot Syed Mushtaq Sharif and a Turkish 

model named Hamret Tuğberk.  Due to health issues, his mother 

returned to Turkey when Syed was just 6 months-old.  His father would 

not allow Hamret hanım to take Syed with her to Turkey and she was

never able to return to Pakistan.

Up until the age of nine, Syed called his father's sister "mom". But when

his aunt mentioned his real mother, Syed vowed to find her someday.  

At the age of 28 (2006), Syed applied to the Turkish consulate for a visa 

to attend a music festival in Turkey and learned from the officials there 

that his mother had been looking for him for years.  When he saw the

letters and gifts she had sent to him at the consulate he was overwhelmed. 

When he finally met his mother he said that he "hugged her and cried

for a long, long time.  We were able to spend 12 years wonderful years 

together but I lost her in 2019.  My mother never married. She was born

in Fethiye and lived until the age of 73 in Nişantaşı, Istanbul in a nice

apartment with a balcony and view of the Bosphorus.  We used to sit

on the balcony and sing songs."

"My mother battled cancer for two years and beat it, but her body could

not withstand the damage done to it by the treatment.  My uncles 

(Hamret hanım's brothers) and I tried in vain to save her.  While I was

in Pakistan for a visit, I was informed that my mother was gravely ill.

So I bought a ticket but she died while I was on the flight.  

Unfortunately, I couldn't see her one last time.  I went to her apartment,

which was engulfed in silence, except for the sounds made by her 22 cats.  

She was quite the animal-lover and so am I."

At the age of 31, Syed composed a song in Urdu for his mother.  He added

that "I'm learning Turkish in Pakistan right now and I want to sing Turkish

songs.  When I marry and if I have a daughter I'll name her for my mother.

Yesterday I went to my mother's apartment in Nişantaşı.  Maybe I'll get a

flat nearby someday."