With her new album hopefully to be released in October, containing only songs in English language, Sertabs wants to work as “an ambassador for the open and cosmopolitan side of Turkey”, as she stated in an interview with a German web-newspaper.
Sertab pointed out that she believes singing in English would be the key to Europe-wide success. “Had I sung my Eurovision entry in Turkish, maybe we had not won”, she said, also naming the example of Tarkan's song 'Simarik' that had become a Europe-wide hit only as Holly Valance's English sung cover 'Kiss Kiss'.
Asked about if her Turkish fans would follow her switch to English, she replied, laughing: “At home, I'm the queen now. Turkey never had won Eurovision before. We had a big complex there, but now we're rid of it.” She also promised that the songs would have an ethnic flavour. “I'm still looking for the right mix. Anatolian, but not too ethnic. We'll mix that with the western style then.”
At the moment, she has five new songs. Sertab thinks about additionally putting English versions of her older Turkish hits on the album, which she hopes to have ready for release in October. She does not hope for a similar career in Europe than in Turkey. “I do not want to force anything. Most important, I do not want to be a One Hit Wonder – a fastfood singer!”
Asked about Turkey's image, she said: “Turkey does not have a very good image. We have to work on that. But we're a democratic country. The turkish population is like a mosaic of many different religions and cultures. And we're living together for so long now. Of course, there are problems, like every married couple has. But you have to show the other side of Turkey – the open, cosmopolitan one. I want to show this side… like an ambassador.”
