A court in Turkiye released today one of the country’s biggest pop stars from house arrest. In August 2022, she was charged for “inciting hatred” over a joke she made on stage about religious schools in the Turkiye.
Gulsen Bayraktar Colakoglu, a 46-year-old singe widely known by her first name, was jailed in August, before she was moved to house arrest several days later.
Though Gulsen was released on Monday (Sept 12), she will still face a travel ban, according to her lawyer.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan studied in an Imam Hatip religious school. The schools were founded by the state to educate young men to be preachers. The schools have become widespread, with graduates able to enter any field.
In April, Gulsen taunted that her guitarist had a “perversion”, which was linked to his upbringing in an Imam Hatip school.
Her comments were captured on a mobile phone and republished by a pro-government daily last month, causing an uproar in Erdogan’s ruling conservative Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the run-up to next year’s general election, which led to her arrest.
