The "Sufi Music, Sema and Marbling Performance" has been held with support from Yunus Emre Institute's Kuala Lumpur branch and Kuala Lumpur Culture and Promotion Consultancy.

The program was held at Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, March 19 with the participation of Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Kuala Lumpur Merve Safa Kavakcı, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister of Malaysia Mohammadin Hacı Ketapi, Deputy Minister of Transportation Hacı Kamarudin Jaffar and many high profile guests.

Ambassador Kavakcı delivered a keynote speech with excerpts from Rumi's advice, stressing that it is essential to understand Rumi in order to understand the spirit of sema.  "Rumi's advice is that we should be like the night in covering up the misdeeds of other people, like the running water in acting with generosity, like a corpse in being moved with rage and hatred, and like the soil in acting with humility, and he tells us either to seem as we are or be as we seem," she said.

"We share our culture with the Turkish people."

Attending the program as the Guest of Honor, Minister Mohammadin Haci Ketapi indicated that the 55th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Turkey and Malaysia is being marked.

Noting that the bilateral relatives went back to the time of the Ottoman Empire and the Malay Sultanate, Minister Mohammadin said: "Some of our leaders have Turkish blood. In this regard, we are practically brothers."

Mohammadin stated that the events like the current one serve as a bridge between the two countries. "Our Ministry will lend support to such programs and cooperation. We hope to visit Turkey and share our culture with the Turkish people," he said.

Following the speeches, the artists took to the stage for the Sufi music concert and sang the "Song of Çanakkale" in commemoration of the martyrs of Çanakkale war.

The concert was followed up a live performance about the art of marbling and the sema show.

The event was covered by many Malaysian media outlets, particularly including Malaysia's state news agency Bernama, and ended with Ambassador Kavakcı's presenting a gift to Minister Mohammadin.