By Associated Press
ANKARA, Turkey: Turkish pop star Gulsen has been arrested on expenses of “inciting hatred and enmity” with a joke she made about Turkey’s non secular colleges, the nation’s state-run information company reported.
The 46-year-old singer and songwriter, whose full title is Gulsen Colakoglu, was taken away from her residence in Istanbul for questioning and formally arrested late Thursday. She was then taken to a jail pending trial.
The arrest sparked outrage on social media. Government critics mentioned the transfer was an effort by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to consolidate help from his non secular and conservative forward of elections in 10 months.
The expenses have been primarily based on a joke Gulsen made throughout an April live performance in Istanbul, the place she quipped that one in every of her musicians’ “perversion” stemmed from attending a non secular college. A video of the singer’s remark started circulating on social media not too long ago, with a hashtag calling for her arrest.
Gulsen — who beforehand grew to become a goal in Islamic circles attributable to her revealing stage outfits and for unfurling an LGBTQ flag at a live performance — apologized for the offense the joke induced however mentioned her feedback have been seized on by these desirous to deepen polarization within the nation.
During her questioning by court docket authorities, Gulsen rejected accusations that she incited hatred and enmity, and mentioned she had “endless respect for the values and sensitivities of my country,” the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Her request to be launched from custody pending the result of a trial was rejected.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chief of Turkey’s essential opposition get together, referred to as on Turkey’s judges and prosecutors to launch Gulsen.
“Don’t betray the law and justice; release the artist now!” he wrote on Twitter.
The spokesman for Erdogan’s Justice and Development get together, recognized by its Turkish acronym AKP, appeared nevertheless, to defend the choice to arrest the singer, saying “inciting hatred is not an art form.”
“Targeting a segment of society with the allegation of “perversion” and making an attempt to polarize Turkey is a hate crime and a shame to humanity,” AKP spokesman Omer Celik tweeted.
Erdogan and plenty of members of his Islam-based ruling get together are graduates of spiritual colleges, which have been initially established to coach imams. The variety of non secular colleges in Turkey has elevated underneath Erdogan, who has promised to lift a “pious generation.”
Among these calling for Gulsen’s launch was Turkish pop star, Tarkan, finest recognized internationally for track “Kiss Kiss.”
“Our legal system, which turns a blind eye to corruption, thieves, those who break the law and massacre nature, those who kill animals and those who use religion to polarize society through their bigoted ideas – has arrested Gulsen in one whack,” Tarkan mentioned in a press release posted on Twitter.
ANKARA, Turkey: Turkish pop star Gulsen has been arrested on expenses of “inciting hatred and enmity” with a joke she made about Turkey’s non secular colleges, the nation’s state-run information company reported.
The 46-year-old singer and songwriter, whose full title is Gulsen Colakoglu, was taken away from her residence in Istanbul for questioning and formally arrested late Thursday. She was then taken to a jail pending trial.
The arrest sparked outrage on social media. Government critics mentioned the transfer was an effort by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to consolidate help from his non secular and conservative forward of elections in 10 months.
The expenses have been primarily based on a joke Gulsen made throughout an April live performance in Istanbul, the place she quipped that one in every of her musicians’ “perversion” stemmed from attending a non secular college. A video of the singer’s remark started circulating on social media not too long ago, with a hashtag calling for her arrest.
Gulsen — who beforehand grew to become a goal in Islamic circles attributable to her revealing stage outfits and for unfurling an LGBTQ flag at a live performance — apologized for the offense the joke induced however mentioned her feedback have been seized on by these desirous to deepen polarization within the nation.
During her questioning by court docket authorities, Gulsen rejected accusations that she incited hatred and enmity, and mentioned she had “endless respect for the values and sensitivities of my country,” the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.
Her request to be launched from custody pending the result of a trial was rejected.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chief of Turkey’s essential opposition get together, referred to as on Turkey’s judges and prosecutors to launch Gulsen.
“Don’t betray the law and justice; release the artist now!” he wrote on Twitter.
The spokesman for Erdogan’s Justice and Development get together, recognized by its Turkish acronym AKP, appeared nevertheless, to defend the choice to arrest the singer, saying “inciting hatred is not an art form.”
“Targeting a segment of society with the allegation of “perversion” and making an attempt to polarize Turkey is a hate crime and a shame to humanity,” AKP spokesman Omer Celik tweeted.
Erdogan and plenty of members of his Islam-based ruling get together are graduates of spiritual colleges, which have been initially established to coach imams. The variety of non secular colleges in Turkey has elevated underneath Erdogan, who has promised to lift a “pious generation.”
Among these calling for Gulsen’s launch was Turkish pop star, Tarkan, finest recognized internationally for track “Kiss Kiss.”
“Our legal system, which turns a blind eye to corruption, thieves, those who break the law and massacre nature, those who kill animals and those who use religion to polarize society through their bigoted ideas – has arrested Gulsen in one whack,” Tarkan mentioned in a press release posted on Twitter.
