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		</div><p>A Turkish pop singer accused of “inciting hatred and enmity” with a joke about the country’s religious schools has rejected the charge during her first court appearance.</p>
<p>Singer-songwriter Gulsen was charged and briefly jailed over the joke she made during a concert in April, when she quipped that the “perversion” of one of her musicians came from attending a religious school.</p>
<p>The 46-year-old singer, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was taken away from her Istanbul home in August after a video from the concert began circulating on social media, with a hashtag calling for her arrest.</p>
<p>She was jailed for five days and later spent 15 days under house arrest despite having apologised for any offence she caused to religious school graduates.</p>
<p>Gulsen now faces up to three years in prison if found guilty of the incitement charge.</p>
<p>In her court testimony in Istanbul on Friday, Gulsen said she had teased a band member who was nicknamed “Imam”, but had not attended a religious school.</p>
<p>“It was just a joke between two people. It was not a statement,” the Milliyet newspaper quoted the singer as telling the court.</p>
<p>“I did not display an attitude that would incite the people to hatred and enmity.”</p>
<p>She added: “I did not target a third person, a social class or section of society,” as she requested an acquittal.</p>
<p>Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and many members of his Islam-based ruling party are graduates of religious schools called Imam Hatip, which were originally established to train imams.</p>
<p>A 48-page indictment against Gulsen featured 702 complainants, including from individuals, a pro-government women’s rights organisation and a religious school association. Some of them withdrew their complaints on Friday, Milliyet reported.</p>
<p>Turkey’s penal code criminalises incitement of hatred and enmity against different groups in society based on class, race, religion or sect, requiring a prison sentence in cases that lead to threats against public safety.</p>
<p>Gulsen previously become a target in Islamic circles due to her revealing stage outfits and for unfurling an LGBTQ flag at a concert.</p>
<p>The court on Friday lifted an obligation for her to register at a police station every week, but retained a ban on her leaving Turkey.</p>
<p>It adjourned the proceedings until December 21st.</p>
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