ISTANBUL (CelebrityAccess) — Turkish pop star Gülşen Çolakoğlu was jailed last week over comments about religious schools in Turkey.
According to the Turkish state-run news agency Anadolu on Monday, Çolakoğlu, known as Gülşen to her fans, was arrested on charges of “inciting or insulting the public to hatred and enmity” after making an on stage joke to a bandmate about religious schools in the nation.
The charge stems from an April 2022 concert where she was captured on video making a joke about a bandmate, noting that he “graduated from Imam Hatip [religious schools]. That’s where his pervert side comes from.”
On Monday, following an outcry from her fans, Çolakoğlu was released and placed on house arrest on Monday, according to according to Anadolu.
After her release, she shared a tweet on social media, apologizing to anyone who was offended by the comment, claiming it had been leveraged by “malicious people” seeking to cause division in the Turkish body politic.
“I made a joke with my colleagues, with whom I have worked for many years in the business. It has been published by people who aim to polarize society,” Çolakoğlu said.
