, external<\/span><\/a> to ensure access but was in contact with Turkish authorities.<\/p>\nAmong 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.<\/p>\n
Deniz G\u00f6kta\u015f 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.<\/p>\n
Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor’s office said authorities had received 185 complaints about G\u00f6kta\u015f’s video and said he was under investigation for “publicly insulting religious values”.<\/p>\n
Turkey’s religious affairs directorate mentioned the stand-up show, without naming G\u00f6kta\u015f, 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 \u200b\u200bunder the guise of humor are distancing our children from our values \u200b\u200bday by day”.<\/p>\n
G\u00f6kta\u015f’s lawyer said he was also accused of insulting the president, an allegation denied by the comic in his statement to the prosecutor.<\/p>\n
His video was recorded at Istanbul’s best-known open-air performance venue on 1 June and released on YouTube on 24 June.<\/p>\n
G\u00f6kta\u015f 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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
Critics see G\u00f6kta\u015f’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”.<\/p>\n
Erdogan’s biggest political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamo\u011flu, has been in jail for more than a year and went on trial last March on numerous charges including corruption.<\/p>\n
Imamo\u011flu’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has faced a broader crackdown, which the CHP has condemned as a “judicial coup” against Turkish democracy. <\/p>\n
In May a court in Ankara removed the CHP’s entire leadership including chairman \u00d6zg\u00fcr \u00d6zel, and replacing him with veteran party figure Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu, who lost to Erdogan in the last presidential election.<\/p>\n
According to Turkish reports, a crowd turned out on Friday at the \u00c7a\u011flayan courthouse in Istanbul in support of the detained comedian, and chants of “traitor” were heard inside the courthouse as K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu arrived.<\/p>\n
K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu has criticised G\u00f6kta\u015f’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.<\/p>\n
Protesters also partly blamed the 77-year-old for young people being targeted by authorities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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