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    <title>Aaj TV English News - Life &amp; Style</title>
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    <language>en-Us</language>
    <copyright>Copyright 2026</copyright>
    <pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 21:10:08 +0500</pubDate>
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      <title>Turkey releases pop star from house arrest</title>
      <link>https://english.aaj.tv/news/30298019/turkey-releases-pop-star-from-house-arrest</link>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ISTANBUL: A Turkish court on Monday lifted a decision to keep one of the country’s biggest pop stars under house arrest over a joke she made on stage about religious schools.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The case has pitted the star’s legion of younger, liberal fans against Turkish President Recep Tayyip’s core of Islamic conservative supporters.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Gulsen Bayraktar Colakoglu, a 46 year old singer who only uses her first name, was jailed last month on charges of “inciting hatred” by her comments.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A court moved her from jail to house arrest four days later.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Erdogan, who has been in power since 2003, studied in an Imam Hatip school, which specialises in Islamic education.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;In April, Gulsen quipped that her guitarist’s “perversion” was linked to his upbringing in such a school.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Her quip was captured on a mobile phone and republished by a pro government daily last month, causing an uproar in Erdogan’s ruling party in the run-up to next year’s general election.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Gulsen issued a statement on social media, saying she was sorry her comments were being used to stoke further divisions in the sharply polarised country.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Turkey is officially secular but the majority of the population is Muslim.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The first hearing of the trial is set for October 21. If convicted, Gulsen faces up to three years in jail.&lt;/p&gt;
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      <content:encoded xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"><![CDATA[<p><strong>ISTANBUL: A Turkish court on Monday lifted a decision to keep one of the country’s biggest pop stars under house arrest over a joke she made on stage about religious schools.</strong></p>
<p>The case has pitted the star’s legion of younger, liberal fans against Turkish President Recep Tayyip’s core of Islamic conservative supporters.</p>
<p>Gulsen Bayraktar Colakoglu, a 46 year old singer who only uses her first name, was jailed last month on charges of “inciting hatred” by her comments.</p>
<p>A court moved her from jail to house arrest four days later.</p>
<p>Erdogan, who has been in power since 2003, studied in an Imam Hatip school, which specialises in Islamic education.</p>
<p>In April, Gulsen quipped that her guitarist’s “perversion” was linked to his upbringing in such a school.</p>
<p>Her quip was captured on a mobile phone and republished by a pro government daily last month, causing an uproar in Erdogan’s ruling party in the run-up to next year’s general election.</p>
<p>Gulsen issued a statement on social media, saying she was sorry her comments were being used to stoke further divisions in the sharply polarised country.</p>
<p>Turkey is officially secular but the majority of the population is Muslim.</p>
<p>The first hearing of the trial is set for October 21. If convicted, Gulsen faces up to three years in jail.</p>
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      <category>Life &amp; Style</category>
      <guid>https://english.aaj.tv/news/30298019</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 12 Sep 2022 19:34:20 +0500</pubDate>
      <author>none@none.com (AFP)</author>
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        <media:title>Gulsen is one of Turkey’s biggest pop stars, becoming an icon of the LGBTQ movement during her three-decade career. Photo: AFP
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