Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register ANKARA, Aug 26 (Reuters) – The arrest of a Turkish pop star over a joke she made about religious schools has sparked a backlash from critics of the government, who see it as determined to punish those who oppose her conservative views. Pop singer Gulsen was jailed Thursday awaiting trial on charges of inciting hatred after a video of a statement she made on stage in April was broadcast by a pro-government media outlet. “He studied in an Imam Hatip (school) in the past. That’s where his perversion comes from,” Gulsen says lightly in the video, referring to a musician in her band. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register President Tayyip Erdogan, whose Islamist-rooted AK Party first came to power some 20 years ago, himself studied at one of the country’s first Imam Hatip schools, which were established by the state to educate young men to imams and preachers. Sabah, a pro-government newspaper, published the video on Wednesday, saying Gulsen had previously been criticized for “acting on stage, extremely low-cut dresses and holding up an LGBT flag.” Several ministers reacted to Gulsen’s words on Twitter, with Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag condemning the remarks as “primitive” and an “outdated mentality”. “Inciting one section of society against another using hateful, hateful and discriminatory language under the guise of the artist is the greatest disrespect to art,” he wrote. On Thursday, Gulsen apologized to anyone offended by her comments, saying they were seized upon by those seeking to polarize society.
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Gülsen’s lawyer, Emek Emre, told Reuters her legal team had challenged the official arrest warrant on Friday, saying her detention process was illegal and irregular from the start. “We expect everything to be done according to the law. My hope and expectation is that this decision (arrest) will be overturned,” he said. Thousands on social media spoke out in support of Gulsen, saying she was being targeted for her liberal views and support for LGBT+ rights. “I think she is in custody because she is a figure representing secular Turkey and an artist sensitive to supporting the LGBTI movement,” said Veysel Ok, a lawyer and co-director of the Media and Law Studies Association. “I think they were looking for an excuse to arrest her and they found it with the joke four months ago,” he told Reuters in an interview at his office in Istanbul. In a rare move, several staunchly pro-government columnists criticized Gulsen’s arrest. “Shall we imprison pending trial anyone who speaks nonsense? Let society finish its punishment,” Mehmet Barlas said in his column in Sabah. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said the arrest was aimed at polarizing society to keep Erdogan’s AKP Party in power. Erdogan and the AK Party say Turkish courts are independent. Lawyer Ok said the case showed that, on the contrary, the country’s judiciary is not independent, referring to the imprisonment of philanthropist Osman Kavala, pro-Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas and several other politicians and journalists in recent years. “The Gülsen case showed again that Turkish justice is the government’s greatest weapon,” he said. “It makes you feel that if you live differently from those in power, your life and freedom are in danger.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Additional reporting by Yesim Dikmen Editing by Frances Kerry Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
