Gulsen, a Turkish music artist, jailed for joking on religious schools

• Turkish pop star Gulsen arrested on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity” with a joke.
• She was taken away from her home in Istanbul for questioning and formally arrested late Thursday.
• The 46-year-old singer and songwriter’s arrest sparked outrage on social media.

Gulsen Colakoglu, a 46-year-old singer and songwriter whose full name is Gulsen. Was seized from her Istanbul home for interrogation before being formally brought into custody late Thursday. Following that, she was brought to jail pending trial.

Social media users were outraged by the arrest. Critics of the government claimed that Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s attempt to rally support from religious and conservative voters in Turkey. Ahead of elections in ten months was the cause of the action.

The accusations were based on Gulsen’s remark that one of her musicians’ “perversion”. This Resulted from going to a religious school, which she made in April during a performance in Istanbul. Recently, a video of the singer’s remark went viral on social media, along with a hashtag demanding her imprisonment.

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Gulsen, who previously attracted criticism from Islamic groups for her skimpy stage attire and for raising the LGBTQ flag at a concert, apologised for the offence the joke caused but said her remarks were utilised by those hoping to further polarise the nation.

Gulsen denied allegations that she incited animosity and hostility during her interrogation by court officials and asserted that she had “endless respect for the values and sensitivities of my nation,” according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Her request to be freed from detention until the conclusion of a trial was denied.

The head of Turkey’s largest opposition party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, urged judges and prosecutors to free Gulsen.

He tweeted, “Don’t betray the law and justice; release the artist right away.”

However, it appeared that Erdogan’s Justice and Development party spokesman, also known by the Turkish abbreviation AKP, was in favour of the singer’s imprisonment, arguing that “inciting hatred is not an art form.”

AKP spokesman Omer Celik tweeted, “Targeting a part of society with the allegation of “perversion” and trying to polarise Turkey is a hate crime and a disgrace to humanity.

Erdogan and a large portion of his Islam-based ruling party’s membership attended religious schools that were first founded to educate imams. Under Erdogan, who has pledged to create a “pious generation,” there are more religious schools in Turkey.

Tarkan, a Turkish pop singer most recognised outside of his country for the song “Kiss Kiss,” was one among those advocating for Gulsen’s release.

In a statement shared on Twitter, Tarkan claimed that “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 polarise society through their bigoted ideas — has arrested Gulsen in one whack.”

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