Stand-up comedian Deniz Göktaş appeared in court on Friday after he was arrested at Istanbul’s main airport over a performance that has attracted 9.4 million views on YouTube.
Göktaş is accused of publicly “insulting religious values” in his stage routine, as well as insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish authorities have cracked down on dissent, targeting performers, campaigners, journalists and other public figures.
In recent weeks, access to the social media accounts of numerous LGBT+ organisations and activists has been blocked, while more than 200 people have been detained ahead of next week’s Nato leaders’ summit in the capital Ankara.
Tens of thousands of security personnel are being deployed for the 7-8 July summit hosted by Erdogan where US President Donald Trump will meet his European counterparts and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
Last month journalists, lawyers, academics, trade unionists, environmental activists and LGBT campaigners were detained.
Authorities have imposed a ban on demonstrations in Ankara until 10 July and independent Turkish media outlets have complained of being denied accreditation to the summit. Nato said it relied on the host nation, external to ensure access but was in contact with Turkish authorities.
Among those detained late in June were volunteers from one of Turkey’s best-known environmental organisations, the Tema Foundation. Tema said many of those detained were retired people returning from a nature trip, and most were later released.
Deniz Göktaş was arrested as he returned to Istanbul from a holiday, and images of the performer being led away with his hands handcuffed behind his back drew immediate criticism from supporters.
Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor’s office said authorities had received 185 complaints about Göktaş’s video and said he was under investigation for “publicly insulting religious values”.
Turkey’s religious affairs directorate mentioned the stand-up show, without naming Göktaş, in its weekly sermon on Friday which is read out in all the country’s mosques. The top mufti’s office complained that the use of digital platforms “and occasional mockery of our sacred values under the guise of humor are distancing our children from our values day by day”.
Göktaş’s lawyer said he was also accused of insulting the president, an allegation denied by the comic in his statement to the prosecutor.
His video was recorded at Istanbul’s best-known open-air performance venue on 1 June and released on YouTube on 24 June.
Göktaş insisted he had been performing the show in various Turkish cities for nearly three years and said his use of the word “dictator” was a topic discussed widely in Turkey. He had no absolutely no intention of offending anyone religious, he added.
“More than 100,000 people have watched this performance, and not a single complaint has been made by anyone saying they were offended by this particular section,” he said.
Critics see Göktaş’s detention as part of a broader pattern in Turkey targeting public figures. Human Rights Watch has warned of “far-reaching restrictions on the main political opposition party, the media, and freedom of expression in general”.
Erdogan’s biggest political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, has been in jail for more than a year and went on trial last March on numerous charges including corruption.
Imamoğlu’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has faced a broader crackdown, which the CHP has condemned as a “judicial coup” against Turkish democracy.
In May a court in Ankara removed the CHP’s entire leadership including chairman Özgür Özel, and replacing him with veteran party figure Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who lost to Erdogan in the last presidential election.
According to Turkish reports, a crowd turned out on Friday at the Çağlayan courthouse in Istanbul in support of the detained comedian, and chants of “traitor” were heard inside the courthouse as Kılıçdaroğlu arrived.
Kılıçdaroğlu has criticised Göktaş’s airport arrest in handcuffs, saying he should be released. However opposition supporters see his reinstatement as CHP leader as an official attempt to neutralise the party.
Protesters also partly blamed the 77-year-old for young people being targeted by authorities.
