Amid international concerns and national protests, a Turkish court released pop singer Gulsen from jail Monday but placed her under house arrest as she awaits trial on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity.”
The 46-year-old Gulsen Bayraktar Colakoglu, known on stage by her first name, was put behind bars Aug. 26, after an Istanbul prosecutor opened an investigation into a quip she made on stage four months ago. “He has studied in an Imam Hatip. … That is the root of his perversity,” Gulsen said, referring to religious secondary schools in an apparent jest to a member of her band, as both the band member and members of the audience clapped and laughed.
