Turkish comedian Deniz Göktaş has been released after 88 days in custody, despite receiving two prison sentences over jokes in his stand-up show Ölü Deniz (Dead Sea).
At a hearing in Istanbul on Monday, 28 September, the court sentenced the 32-year-old to 11 months and 20 days for “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and seven months and 15 days for “insulting religious values”. The court acquitted him of a separate charge of praising crime and criminals, and ordered his release. Göktaş intends to appeal his convictions.
The case began after clips from one of the comedian’s Istanbul shows, recorded in June, was uploaded online and went viral, drawing in millions of viewers. The court heard this prompted 185 complaints to the Turkish President’s office, which led to the comedian’s performance being investigated.
Under Turkish law, it is an offence to insult the president. Prosecutors examined Göktaş’s jokes about Erdoğan, including one describing him as a “shy dictator”, as well as material they alleged insulted religious values.
Göktaş was detained at Istanbul Airport on 2 July after returning from a holiday abroad and was remanded in custody the following day.
An earlier order for his release, issued in August, was followed by his re-arrest over a joke referring to the Daltonlar criminal gang.
In court, Göktaş denied intending to insult anyone. He told the court that he had been held at Çorlu Karatepe High Security Prison since July 3 and had been spending his days without seeing sunlight or interacting with other detainees and convicts.
“I have been detained for 88 days because of four sentences I said during the show: 22 days for each sentence,” stated Göktaş, adding that, “as a comedian, it is an honour to see the impact of my words, but it is worrying in terms of freedom of expression in Türkiye.”
Göktaş said he stood by his joke that President Erdoğan had turned from a “shy dictator” to one “confident in his identity,” drawing laughter in the courtroom.
The comedian argued that it is natural for political satire to focus on those in power and previous Turkish leaders had not prevented this, adding that, “If Nasreddin Hodja were to engage in political satire today, he could not put on a show without mentioning Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.”
Göktaş asserted that the complaints were made after short clips of his show were shared without their full context, creating a misunderstanding of what he had said.
He also stated that a joke involving women in full-coverage swimwear was intended to expose the audience’s prejudices, rather than mock the women.
Speaking outside prison after his release, Göktaş said he was happy to be reunited with his family and friends. However, he was also thinking of others still detained, including Mayor of Üsküdar Sinem Dedetaş and lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan.
Göktaş said he had hoped that he, Dedetaş, and Pehlivan could be freed together to ride in a single car from prison to Istanbul, but “it was not to be”.
For now, the comedian remains free while his lawyers appeal his convictions and sentences.
