Turkish music artist is imprisoned for making fun of religious schools

Gulsen, a Turkish pop musician, was detained on suspicion of "inciting hatred and animosity" after making a joke about the country's religious schools.

 FILE - On April 10, 2016, Turkish pop artist Gulsen performs in Istanbul. According to the nation's state-run news agency, Gulsen, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was detained on Thursday, August 25, 2022, on suspicion of "inciting hatred and hostility" because of a joke she made about Turkey's religious schools. The 46-year-old singer and composer was hauled away for interrogation from her house in Istanbul and was formally detained late on Thursday before being transported to a prison pending her trial.

Turkey's ANKARA (AP) — According to the nation's state-run news agency, Turkish pop artist Gulsen has been detained on suspicion of "inciting hatred and enmity" following a joke she made about the country's religious schools.

The 46-year-old singer and songwriter, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was arrested late on Thursday after being hauled away from her Istanbul home for questioning. She will now be held in custody until her trial.

Social media users were outraged by the arrest. The decision, according to government critics, was an attempt by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to strengthen his base of religious and conservative supporters before elections in ten months.

The accusations were based on Gulsen's joking that one of her musicians' "perversion" resulted from his attendance at a religious school, which she made at a performance in Istanbul back in April. Recently, a video of the singer making the remarks started to become viral on social media, along with a hashtag demanding her arrest.

Gulsen apologized for the hurt she caused but said that those wishing to further polarize the country used her remarks, despite the fact that she had already come under fire from Islamic organizations for her provocative stage attire.

Gulsen denied claims that she incited animosity and hostility while being questioned, telling court officials that she had "endless respect for the values and sensitivities of my nation," according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

She was denied a request to be released from detention pending the results of a trial.

The chief opposition party leader in Turkey, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, urged judges and prosecutors to free Gulsen.

He tweeted, "Don't betray the law and justice; release the artist right away."

Omer Celik, a spokesman for Erdogan's ruling party, made an attempt to rationalize the singer's arrest by claiming that "inciting hatred is not an art form."

"It is a hate crime and a disgrace to mankind to target a sector of society with the allegation of "perversion" and try to polarize Turkey," Celik tweeted.

Erdogan and a large portion of his Islam-based ruling party's membership attended religious schools that were first founded to educate imams. Erdogan, who has pledged to create a "pious generation," has seen an increase in the number of religious schools.