Authorities have ordered the arrest of one of Turkey’s leading pop singers for allegedly insulting the country’s established Islamic high school system.
It should be noted that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also studied at the same religious school.
On Thursday, an Istanbul court issued an arrest warrant for the 46-year-old singer, songwriter and dancer Gulshan, known as the ‘Turkish Madonna’.
Gulshan’s arrest warrant came after a video clip of him making a statement about a member of his band during a performance in April has now gone viral on social media.
Following this statement, he was remanded pending further investigation for allegedly ‘inciting hatred and enmity’.
He had said about the band member that he studied at Imam Khatib Madrasah. This is where the distortion comes from.’
Turkish President Erdogan is also a graduate of Imam Khatib School of Religious Education, as are many of his colleagues and the country’s powerful business elite.
Singer Gulshan has apologized for her statement. After the news of his arrest warrant came out, he told his tens of millions of followers on Instagram and Twitter that he didn’t mean to hurt or divide anyone.
The topic of ‘distortion’ regarding Imam Khatib schools is sensitive because several scandals of sexual abuse have come to light in this network. The education system has been blessed with public funds during the conservative 20-year rule of the Justice and Development Party.
The singer, whose full name is Gulshan Bereketer Kolakoglu, has been a household name in the Turkish pop industry for decades, known for her extravagant costumes, promiscuous sex, extravagant live performances and semi-nude music videos. His songs are quite popular among Turkish citizens.
In a video circulating on the internet on Thursday evening, a large number of fans can be heard singing one of Gulshan’s hit songs in solidarity with Turkish football club Fenerbahce during a match.
Kenan Behzat Sharp, a scholar of pop culture and politics at the American Research Institute in Istanbul, said, “He (Gulsan) is a really popular figure.” She has been making music since the 1990s and is an institution in her own right. There are many songs of his that are on the tongue of every citizen of the country. You could say she’s the Turkish Madonna known for her stage presence and costumes and sex.’
Gulshan has been a strong voice for LGBT (homosexual) rights, further angering President Erdogan’s supporters. She has hoisted the ‘Pride’ flag during her performance.
It is a double whammy for her when religious conservatives shame her for her clothes and stage antics for being the mother of a child.
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As Sharp put it: ‘She issued a written statement in an accurate manner stating that although she may be a mother and a daughter, neither of these adjectives fully describes who she actually was. Who are you? She has been giving them (conservatives) the middle finger by waving LGBT flags at her concerts. She is a woman who knows her mind and doesn’t hold back.’
Interestingly, the video for her recent song ‘Lollipop’ shows pink uniformed guards handcuffing her behind bars.
Legal experts have said that even if convicted or convicted, Gulshan will likely not be jailed, but Gulshan’s arrest has fueled anger among his supporters and secular Turks against President Erdogan. are withdrawing from the elections due to the sad state of the economy.
A user of the messaging platform Axy Suzlok said: ‘There is no arrest for such things in any country in the world. It only happens in the Republic of Banana.’
Other users drew attention to the statement of a cleric who said in a recent viral video that those who do not pray regularly could be killed but not arrested.
Sharp said the singer’s arrest, which followed a massive social media campaign by Erdogan’s supporters to demand judicial action, helped move the economy out of the political discourse and into the cultural arena. There may be support in which the ruling party has an advantage.
He said: ‘It’s a way to gain support and sway the political debate, not to talk about the economy and corruption. This is a safe field for them. The more rallies there are regarding the opposition’s Gulshan, the more conservative sections of the society will say that if the opposition wins, this is what Turkey will be like – half-naked women and LGBT flags.’
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