Turkey’s pop queen draws sudden wrath over five-year-old lyrics

Sezen Aksu, the unrivaled queen of Turkish pop, has invoked the wrath of the country’s Islamist nationalist groups with a song she wrote five years ago that allegedly insults the biblical Adam and Eve.

With Turkey’s challenges piling up from a faltering economy, political divisions ahead of upcoming elections and conflicts in and with neighboring countries, it may appear strange for a five-year-old song by a reclusive diva in her late 60s to make headlines. Yet since the beginning of the week, Aksu, a slight figure with full lips and soulful eyes, has been one of the top issues in parliamentary speeches, statements by Turkey’s powerful Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) and some Turkish political parties’ internal dynamics.