Deniz Göktaş formally arrested after explaining controversial standup jokes during interrogation

Comedian Deniz Göktaş was formally arrested today on charges of "insulting the president" and "degrading religious values" over his standup show, where he made jokes about political leaders and longstanding social issues in the country.

Göktaş had been performing the show titled "Ölü Deniz" for three years, and it came under the spotlight when he released his latest performance on YouTube on Jun 25. The video was viewed nearly 9 million times in a week, and clips from the performance went viral across social media platforms, accumulating millions of views, eventually leading to a criminal investigation against the comedian.

Göktaş was taken into custody yesterday at İstanbul Airport upon his return from abroad and taken to the İstanbul Security Directorate, where he was questioned by police and spent the night. 

Erdoğan jokes

After procedures at the police headquarters, Göktaş was sent to the İstanbul Courthouse to be questioned by a prosecutor. During the testimony, he was accompanied by three lawyers.

The prosecutor quoted various remarks made by Göktaş during the show and asked what he meant by the statements in question.

Quote: "I am going to say something a bit unpleasant, I have never liked Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. There is not even a single minute in my life where, you know, I agree with his views, but he is a charismatic leader. He is tall, how does he always trim his mustache to the exact same level ... But the unpleasant part is coming now; for better or worse, we have a journey together. I was born in 1994, he became the mayor of İstanbul in 1994, and we witnessed all the important stages of his life, all the progress in his career. He is like my neighbor, a grumpy neighbor I do not like. But you still wonder about your neighbor's life, what he did today, what is in his trash, and so on. His transition from a shy dictator to a dictator at peace with his own identity..."

Response: "The word dictator is a political observation and a frequently discussed topic in public; I have no intent to insult or humiliate in this statement."

Quote: "You see, it is not just well-meaning people who watch those personal development videos on the internet; these guys watch them too. Clearly, one day, a very good video came along and he said, 'Yeah, why have you been restricting yourself for 30 years? Social pressure, texts written by people, the constitution and all... Just be yourself, be yourself, break out of your shell, Tayyip!'"

Response: "It is a humorous joke regarding the idea that the president watches personal development videos just like all of us. I do not think there is any humiliation or insult in this statement."

Quote: "Maybe he is going to therapy. He definitely is. He has the money, he has the means. I am a psychology graduate myself. One cannot help but imagine, 'if only I could be Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's therapist...' The pay must be great. It is obvious it would last for years. There must be fringe benefits and all, a job just for me. But they would never let me have it, they must have hired one of the relatives so the money stays in the family; Albayrak, Bayraktar, or Albayraktar if a new version came out.

"It is certain he did not have a very good therapy process though. There is only one image where the man laughs genuinely, and that was at a cemetery. It is obvious things are not going very well." 

Response: "Since I am a psychology graduate and I think the president has a stressful job, it is a humorous piece about how I could be his therapist; there is no intent to humiliate or insult."

Quran question

Quote: "In fact, the fourth book [Quran] is my favorite. I guess if İmamoğlu read it, like many of us, he must have liked it too. It is by far the best among the four books, in my opinion, by far the best. First of all, there is a very ambitious statement. Saying this is the last book in the 600s, when new books were just starting to come out anyway. It is also very hard for the author, if a new idea comes to mind, like 'But we said this is the last book...'"

Response: "When people see me, they think I am someone detached from religion, but I declared that I love the fourth book, just as you read to me. In this statement, my aim was to make a theological joke about the fourth book being the last book. I have no intent to humiliate. I have been making the same joke, word for word, in standup shows in different regions of the country for three years. I have performed this joke for about 100,000 people, but I have not seen anyone offended by it. I have no intent or purpose to degrade religious values."

Burkini joke

Quote: "I am going to let all the stress of the year wash away into the sea. Right when I was thinking that, a few people came out of the sea. Their hair cannot be seen, a black outfit covering their entire bodies... I am not going to interfere with who enters the sea in what clothing, but I have not been able to get used to this sight for years. I hate those fucking divers, really really hate them! Do not applaud in vain, now we know who you are! You failed the test, we lived up to the name 'Harbiye.' Deniz Baykal is not dead, he lives in your subconscious.

"I love describing this part, because when I start explaining, the majority of the audience, who are sweet people, get extremely tense, 'No no no no no, Deniz you are not someone like that, no no no,' but a few people's eyes start to light up, 'Yeah right, why has no one talked about this for 20 years, speak up boy!'"

Response: "Here, I am criticizing the prejudice shown against people who enter the sea wearing a burkini; in fact, if you examine the entire statement, I am criticizing the people who are prejudiced against those entering the sea wearing a burkini. By saying 'fucking divers' in the statement, I subvert the audience's expectations. At the beginning of the statement, the audience thinks I am going to talk about people entering the sea wearing a burkini, but I shift the topic to divers, confronting the audience with their own prejudice and putting on a critical performance. Indeed, in the continuation of the statement, by saying 'you failed the Harbiye test,' I think I made it clear that my intention was to expose the audience's prejudice."

After taking his testimony, the prosecutor's office referred Göktaş to a peace judgeship with a request for his formal arrest. The court then ruled for Göktaş's arrest and sent him to prison, citing the suspicion of "fleeing abroad" and "tampering with evidence." (HA/VK)