Jailed Turkish pop star released to house arrest over joke

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Turkish court has released pop star Gulsen from jail but placed her on house arrest as she awaits trial on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity” for a joke she made about Turkey’s religious schools. The 46-year-old singer and songwriter was taken away from her home in Istanbul for questioning on Aug. 25, ordered arrested and jailed pending trial. The charges were based on a joke the singer made during an April concert, where she quipped that one of her musicians’ “perversion” stemmed from attending a religious school. Critics say the singer’s arrest was an effort by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to consolidate support from his religious backers ahead of an election next year.