ISTANBUL (AP) – Two students have been arrested in Turkey on charges of inciting hatred and insulting religious values for a poster depicting Islam’s holiest site with LGBT flags.
They were arrested late Saturday after top Turkish officials slammed the poster, which was on display at Turkey’s most prestigious Bogazici University. For weeks students and teachers have been protesting against the appointment of the Turkish president of a new rector with ties to his ruling party, and clashes have broken out with the police.
Home Secretary Suleyman Soylu tweeted that “LGBT perverts” had been detained for “disrespecting the Great Kaaba.” Top government officials from Turkey’s conservative Islamic ruling party condemned the poster. The spokesman for the staunch secular, main opposition party also condemned the artwork as a provocation, calling it an attack on sacred values.
Their statements came after the university’s Islamic research club slammed the poster on social media, leading people to Twitter with hashtags denouncing the poster, LGBTs and the university. The country’s director of religious affairs, who previously caused a stir by saying that homosexuality involves illness and was defended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when criticized, said he would take legal action.
The Kaaba in Mecca is the holiest site in Islam with believers all over the world praying in its direction.
The poster placed a mythical creature of half woman and half snake from Middle Eastern folklore on the place of worship, along with the flags of LGBT, lesbian, transsexual and asexual people. The text below stated that the artwork was a critique of traditional gender roles.
The Istanbul governor’s office said five people were initially detained and police were looking for two more suspects. One person was released, two were house arrest and two were convicted pending trial.
Police searched the visual arts and LGBTI + student clubs at the university. According to the statement, police found books about a banned Kurdish group and rainbow flags.
Melih Bulu, the rector under protest, tweeted that an attack on Islamic values was unacceptable and had no place in the values of the university.
Student group Bogazici Solidarity said the exhibition of more than 300 works of art was in part to protest against the new rector and acknowledged that Muslim students had problems with the poster.
“All artworks are open to criticism. But judging art is simply a restriction on the freedom of speech, ”they explained. The group stressed the value of pluralism in college and said hate speech based on sexual orientation and gender identity was unacceptable.
The university’s LGBTI + group tweeted that they were standing with their friends and said they were rejecting the new headmaster “who focuses on his own students.”