In her weekly article titled , “We are the Defenders of Dance, Music, Secularism, Equality and Gülşen Who Defends Them” Gülseren Onanç, the Founding Chair of the SES Equality and Solidarity Association reflects on the arrest of the pop start over her joke on religious schools and argues that Turkey’s political climate is further shifting towards the influence of Sunni Islam.
“I can only decide for myself what I wear, what I think, how I want to live and exist. It is incredibly heartbreaking to be reminded of this at the point we have reached as a society today”.
This statement is the words of pop singer Gülşen, who bravely resisted those who tried to impose radical Islamic thought on society. This Monday she was released from jail but placed under house arrest as she awaits trial on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity.”
Familiar Sunni Islamist Mentality
The contentious process of Gülşen’s arrest came about due to a joke she made about her collegue on religious (imam-hatip) high school students. She was arrested as a result of the pressure of the trolls, as an investigation was launched on the charge of “inciting the people to hatred and enmity”, and she was hastily arrested. The prosecutor who initiated the investigation is the person who initiated the investigation against journalist Sedef Kabaş, so we know this mentality closely. This mentality tried to silence the singer Melek Mosso, who, like Gülşen, used her mind and body freely just a few months ago. It is the same Sunni Islamist mentality and women have been against this mentality for centuries. The same mentality claimed that lyrics can “insult religious values” and wanted to punish Sezen Aksu, Sedef Kabaş for sharing their thoughts on social media, the Kurdish singer Aynur Doğan with a nationalist armor and by banning festivals.
Turkey’s Problem, Not Gülşen’s
We all know that the reason why Gülşen is being punished is not her words taken with tweezers. Gülşen was chosen as a target because she opposed the male-dominated mentality of radical Islam against the lifestyle it imposed on women and LGBTI+ individuals. We are witnessing that Turkey’s political climate is increasingly being shaped by the influence of Sunni Islam. Those who target and punish Gülşen are targeting secularism, democracy, gender equality and freedom of expression in Turkey. This is not Gülşen’s question, but the question of all of Turkey. We will either build a secular, democratic, libertarian and pluralistic country, or we will be a society that disappears a hundred years after the founding the Republic.
Why Are They Targeting Gülşen?
They are targeting Gülşen because she chooses to wear clothes that reveal her body. With the clothes she chooses at her concerts, Gülşen openly challenges the mentality of radical Islamists who want to hide the female body. This mentality perceives Gülşen as a danger. It tries to prevent women like Gülşen from being visible in the public space so that they she does not set a bad example for women and youth. Turkey is a secular country and no one has yet been able to initiate an investigation against Gülşen because of her dress, but the masculine mentality that defends the sharia is waiting for an opportunity to punish Gülşen. The social media post of the Welfare Party’s Kağıthane district head stating that “murder is obligatory” in relation to Gülşen’s joke is the most concrete indicator of this mentality.
They are targeting her for openly supporting the freedom of life and expression of LGBTI+ individuals. Gülşen also advocates that LGBTI+ individuals should live their gender identities freely. At a concert she gave during the Pride Week, she raised a rainbow flag on the stage and said, “Let’s not be afraid to show our colors, friends. Everyone has their own color and the colors are beautiful. Everyone has their own sexual identity and life. No one else can decide that. We own our own life. No one else can decide this,” and publicly showed her reaction to the banned Pride Week events.
She was target for her music and dancing. Since the beginning of this summer, 14 festivals planned to be held in Isparta, Eskişehir, Istanbul, Muğla, Balıkesir, Denizli, Muş, Ankara, Denizli, Dersim, Zonguldak and Kaz Mountains have been canceled by the governorates. We know that the same mentality lies behind the reasons given. The Sunni Islamist mindset is putting pressure on the public by arguing that events where women and men will listen to music and dance together are against religion, and the governors of the incumbent are also implementing these bans. Gülşen is being targeted for her music, dancing and inviting those who come to her concerts to freedom.
We know the same mentality when the Taliban took over the administration of Afghanistan, the first thing they did was to impose the burqa requirement on women. In the non-secular Islamic Republic of Iran, it is a legal requirement for women to cover their heads in public. The White Wednesday movement continues its resistance against this law, which it first started on social media. The Iranian regime threatens women who organize and participate up to 10 years in prison.
Gülşen is Turkey’s Madonna
Gülşen is the Madonna of Turkey with her stage performances and extraordinary discourses. Madonna recently challenged the sexuality that is tucked into clothes by saying that her 16-year-old son wears her own clothes and it suits him well. How Madonna lived and spoke against the values imposed by radical religious people supporting the abortion ban in America is similar to Gülşen’s stance in Turkey. Madonna reminds that it is the artists’ responsibility to question the system, saying that “the main duty of the artist is to disturb the peace”.
If A Dancing Woman Becomes Prime Minister
Moreover, the pressure on these women exists even in Finland, where the world’s most developed, happiest, and most female politicians are in decision-making mechanisms. Recently, images of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin dancing with her friends at a party leaked to the press became the agenda on social media. She was tested for drugs. She was denounced by opposition representatives as “the most incompetent prime minister”. Sanna Marin herself said, “I acted like my peers. I danced and sang. These are completely legal things,” she argued. This process also led to a solidarity campaign. Finnish women who wanted to show their support for Sanna Marin started to share images of them dancing and singing on social media. Messages of support poured in from all over the world for the hashtag “Solidarity with Sanna”.
We Will Not Obey
The arrest of Gülşen in Turkey also caused reactions in the country. Women’s organizations, politicians, artists, Fenerbahçe fans are rebelling against this unlawful arrest. The arrest of Gülşen worries everyone, men and women, who want to live freely in a secular and democratic Turkey. Women are reacting to these attacks on female artists by saying “There is no obedience, there is rebellion”.
This is why Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said to the executives of the Association for Supporting Women Candidates: “Women should organise. Let women put out their own female candidates with their organized power, let them be entitled to be candidates. Although I don’t find the statement “Let them become parliamentarians by showing their will but by grace” politically correct, I find it correct as a strategy that women should implement.
We will organize to support women politicians in Turkey who will defend secularism, gender equality, the Istanbul Convention, to promote freedom of speech of Gülşen and others. We will own our own future.
We are the defenders of Gülşen, dance, music, secularism and equality!