Deniz Göktaş was detained at Istanbul's main airport on Thursday, July 2, following a stand-up show in which he described President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as 'a reluctant dictator who gradually came to fit the role.' Returning from a trip abroad, Göktaş was handcuffed by police and taken to the Istanbul Police Department on charges of 'insulting religious values.'
Göktaş's show, released for free on YouTube, quickly went viral, amassing more than 8.7 million views by the time of his detention. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said it had launched a judicial investigation after receiving complaints from 185 people.
The prosecutor's office cited Göktaş's disrespectful remarks about the Quran as the main grounds for the investigation. In his show, however, Göktaş had described the Quran as 'the best' among the holy books of different faiths.
In April, female comedian Tuba Ulu was detained on charges of 'insulting historical and moral values' after making a joke about Suleiman the Magnificent marrying his 'sex partner.' If found guilty, Ulu faces up to three years in prison.
Göktaş's explicit criticism of Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party is widely seen as the trigger for the legal action against him. In a climate where journalists, artists and activists who voice dissent are systematically prosecuted, the incident has emboldened millions who chafe under restrictions on free speech.
Turkish historian Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer of New York University said on X: 'Deniz Göktaş showed the youth of this country that it is possible to speak without fear. A very important threshold has been crossed.' A viewer on YouTube commented: 'I will keep watching until Deniz Göktaş is released — this is my seventh time.'
At an open-air show in Istanbul on June 30, Göktaş had placed a giant cardboard cut-out of his own face on its side like a severed head and called the event 'Dead Sea,' prompting speculation that he anticipated his own detention.
There is limited indication that Göktaş has rattled the government. The legal offensive against the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) continues. CHP Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has been in prison since May 2025 on charges of corruption, aiding terrorism and espionage, along with more than a dozen other mayors from his party. İmamoğlu, who is seen as the opposition figure most likely to defeat Erdoğan, denies the charges.
In May, an Ankara court removed CHP leader Özgür Özel from office and replaced him with former chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Writing in the Financial Times, Özel argued that Erdoğan's 'assault on democracy' posed a threat to Turkey's allies and that he aimed for a system where voting continues but real competition is eliminated.
Repression is seen to be intensifying ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7-8. At the time of Göktaş's detention, 178 people were under arrest and 38 under house arrest in investigations related to terrorist organizations, among them environmentalists, academics and the editor of an LGBTI+ rights publication.
