Really Rûdaw? Is that what Elon Musk wrote?

On January 7, 2025, Elon Musk posted a tweet on X that sparked significant interest and widespread discussion across social media. Ezidi readers, in particular, were surprised and moved, as the tweet brought attention to their plight and helped raise awareness about their devastating situation.

Unfortunately, Ezidi Times must once again serve as the voice raising awareness about how Kurdish media is misrepresenting Elon Musk’s statement through poor translation, distorting his words and facts to align with their own propaganda.

Elon Musk wrote: “Could what happened to the Yazidi people one day happen to Europe?” and shared an excerpt from an AI-generated response about the Ezidis. The excerpt described the Ezidis as an ethno-religious minority.

What has caught our attention is how Kurdish media outlet Rûdaw has taken Musk’s statement and altered its translation, giving it a significantly different meaning.

Dear readers who speak Turkish and all of you who can use Google Translate; what is the correct translation for the following English sentence:

“Could what happened to the Yazidi people one day happen to Europe?”

Is it:

“Ezidi halkına yapılanlar bir gün Avrupa’nın da başına gelebilir mi?” —> (English: Could what was done to the Yazidi people happen to Europe one day?)

Or is it:

“Ezidilerin başına gelenler bir gün Avrupa’nın da başına gelebilir mi?” —> (English: Could what happened to the Yazidis happen to Europe one day?)

Instead of translating the tweet as it is, Rûdaw has removed “people” from “Yazidi people” and used “Ezidi Kurd” or “Kurd” in several parts of their article, when referring to the Ezidis. 

The incorrect Turkish translation of Elon Musk’s tweet. Rûdaw incorrectly uses citation marks when the translation doesn’t correspond to what Musk actually wrote.

Example of how Rûdaw interchangeably uses “Kurd” and “Ezidi Kurd” when referring to Ezidi women.

Rûdaw, when will you begin writing more professional and unbiased articles, free from political agendas that falsely label the Ezidis as Kurds? There is no such ethnicity as “Ezidi Kurd.” In your article, you interchangeably use “Ezidi Kurd,” “Kurd,” and sometimes just “Ezidi.” Is this the extent of professional journalism at Rûdaw?

As far as the right to freedom of expression goes, it is still unacceptable to alter the words of people when quoting them, and it is absolutely unacceptable to change facts. No matter how many articles you publish, painting an imaginary dream world in which Ezidis are “Ezidi Kurds,” you cannot change the fact that Ezidis are an ancient ethnic and religious people. They will never be subjected to your aggressive propaganda aimed at the kurdification of all ethnic and religious minorities in the Mesopotamian region.

Rûdaw, your work is an insult to the journalists who sacrifice their lives for free and, most importantly, truthful journalism.