Turkish pop star Gulsen jailed for 'inciting hatred' with religious schools remark

Turkish pop singer GülşenColakoglu has been jailed on the charges of "inciting hatred and enmity"with a remark she made about Turkey's religious schools. Shewas taken away from her home in Istanbul for questioning onThursday. And, was later arrested and taken to prison.

As the news of the arrest circulated, many took to social media to condemn it.The incident sparked outrage on social media too. Some critics have alleged that the move was an effort by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to "consolidate support from his religious and conservative" voters ahead of the elections.

The charges against the singer are based on a joke she made during an Istanbulconcert in April. While performing on the stage, the singer hadquipped that one of her musicians' "perversion"stemmed from attending a religious school.

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A video clip of the singer's comment had been doing rounds on social media since April with the hashtag 'arrest gulsen'. When Gulsen was asked to comment on her viral video clip, she apologized for the offence the joke caused and said that her comments were seized on by those wanting to deepen polarization in the country.

According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Gulsen rejected all accusations during questioningand said that she had "endless respect for the values and sensitivities"of her country.

Among those calling for Gulsen's release from prison was Turkish pop starTarkan. "Our legal system, which turns a blind eye to corruption, thieves, those who break the law and massacre nature, those who kill animals and those who use religion to polarise society through their bigoted ideas - has arrested Gulsen in one whack,"Tarkan said in a statement posted on Twitter.