“Shame on humanity”
Joke about Islam school detains pop star

08/26/2022, 10:30 am

Turkish singer Gulsan has repeatedly provoked the ire of media guards for her skimpy outfits. The authorities are now arresting the musician for a stage joke. The judiciary accused the 46-year-old of “inciting hatred”.

A famous Turkish pop singer has been remanded after mocking Islamic schools. Singer Gulsen Beraktar Kolakoglu, 46, who is known in Turkish as Gulsen, was arrested at her home in Istanbul and brought before a magistrate on Thursday. The judge ordered him to be kept in custody until the investigation of “incitement to hatred” is completed.

On stage, Gulsen made a joke about religious Imam Hatip schools: he jokingly told a colleague that his “perversion” was due to his school days at an Imam Hatip school. A video of the demonstration spread online and sparked outrage among President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamic Conservative Party. AKP spokesman Omar Selick spoke of a “hate crime and a disgrace to humanity”.

Before his arrest, Gulson had entered online network informed to speak. The singer said that she joked with work colleagues for several years. “I am sorry that my words have given substance to the malicious people dividing our country,” he said. She didn’t want to insult or humiliate anyone.

Gulsen’s lawyer, Emek Emre, announced that he would appeal the singer’s detention and called for his immediate release. “Our client has not committed any crime,” he told reporters.

Gulson has released ten albums in his career so far. Since changing her image in 2004, she has appeared in concerts and music videos, mostly wearing light clothing. As a result, it has repeatedly had problems with the Turkish media regulator in the past.