Turkish pop star Gulsen jailed over religious joke released to house arrest

An Istanbul court Monday ordered the release pending trial of one of Turkey's biggest pop stars, after her jailing over a religious joke sparked an outcry among fans and government foes.

Singer Gulsen Bayraktar Colakoglu, 46, who uses her first name on stage, was jailed last Thursday on charges of "inciting hatred" over a quip about religious schools.

Although she made the joke on stage in April, it went viral on social media after being re-posted by a pro-government daily last week.

Top members of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted party then voiced moral outrage, turning her joke into another divisive issue roiling the polarised country 10 months before Turks vote in crunch polls.

Gulsen had quipped that her guitarist's "perversion" was rooted in his upbringing in an Imam Hatip school, which specialises in religious education combined with a modern curriculum.

Erdogan himself went to such a school.

Following the decision last week to jail the singer, her lawyer immediately appealed.

A court on Monday ruled that Gulsen should be placed under house arrest pending trial, which could see Gulsen jailed for up to three years.

"We are very happy about the decision," Gulsen's lawyer Emek Emre said outside the courtroom, while adding that placing his client under house arrest was "incompatible with the law".

Most Imam Hatip schools were closed after the 1997 ousting of an Islamic-rooted government by the military.

Their number began to grow when Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002.

Turkey is a predominantly Muslim but officially secular state.

Erdogan has often said his goal was to raise "pious generations".

This creates enormous tensions with more liberal Turks, who fear that Erdogan's rule is undermining the republic's secular foundations.

Gulsen said she was sorry that her joke was being used to stir up further divisions.

"I am sorry that my words gave material to malicious people who aim to polarise our country," she said on her social media accounts before being placed behind bars.

Gulsen emerged in the 1990s, with her first video clip featuring her in pyjamas.

But her songs and videos became more risque and overtly sexual with time.

This year, she dedicated her Elle Style "icon of the year" award to the LGBTQ movement.