Turkish pop star Gulsen jailed over joke about religious schools

Ankara: Turkish pop star Gulsen has been arrested on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity” over a joke she made about Turkey’s religious schools, the country’s state-run news agency reported. The 46-year-old singer and songwriter, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was taken away for questioning from her home in Istanbul and was formally arrested late on Thursday before being taken to a prison pending her trial.The arrest sparked outrage on social media. 

Government critics said the move was an effort by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to consolidate his religious and conservative support base ahead of elections in 10 months’ time.

The charges were based on a joke Gulsen made during a concert in Istanbul back in



April when she quipped that one of her musicians’ “perversion” stemmed from the fact that he went to a religious school. A video of the singer making the comments began circulating on social media recently, with a hashtag calling for her arrest. Gulsen — who had already been the target of Islamic circles for her revealing stage outfits — issued an apology for the offense caused but said her comments were seized on by those wanting to deepen polarization in the country.

During her questioning, Gulsen rejected accusations that she incited hatred and enmity, telling court authorities that she had “endless respect for the values and sensitivities of my country,” the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.