Gulsen Colakoglu: Turkish pop star who was jailed for her ‘joke’ on religious schools
Turkish pop star Gulsen was recently arrested after a video of her making a joke about religious schools in Turkey went viral online
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Gulsen is accused of ‘inciting hatred’ over comments she made in April about graduates of religious public Imam Hatip schools
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In the viral video, she said referring to a band mate, “He studied at an Imam Hatip (school) previously. That’s where his perversion comes from”
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A Turkish court has now ordered Gulsen be released from jail but placed under house arrest
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Gulsen has been a target in Islamic circles due to her revealing stage outfits and for supporting Turkey's beleaguered LGBTQ community
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Gulsen has apologized for the joke but said her comments were seized on by those wanting to deepen polarization in the country
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Gulsen was born on May 29, 1976, and grew up in Istanbul
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Gulsen graduated from Sehremini High School and later enrolled in Istanbul Technical University
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Gulsen also started performing at bars and eventually left university to pursue a career in music
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Gulsen was discovered by a composer in 1995 during one of her bar performances
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Gulsen rose to fame after her debut album ‘Be Adam’ in 1996
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Gulsen’s fourth album ‘Of... Of...’ (2004) was a major hit in Turkey followed by ‘Yurtta Ask Cihanda Ask’ (2006), ‘Beni Durdursan mi?’ (2013) and ‘Bangir Bangir’ (2015)