Turkish stand-up comedian Deniz Göktaş was detained Thursday while returning to his country for allegedly insulting Islamist strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan and for “publicly insulting religious values” during his latest performance.
Göktaş, 32, was detained after landing at Istanbul Airport on Thursday in response to numerous complaints reportedly lodged against his latest stand-up show, titled, “The Dead Sea.” Turkey’s Erdogan-friendly Daily Sabah reports that Göktaş’ performance “targeted religious values” and “caused outrage,” leading to alleged charges of “insulting religious values” and insulting Erdogan.
The Turkish newspaper Sözcü detailed that a probe had been launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against Göktaş over the contents “The Dead Sea.” Göktaş returned to Turkey on a flight on Thursday, and was detained upon arriving. The funny man was reportedly abroad on vacation, and returned home knowing he would be arrested. Göktaş was taken to the Istanbul Police Department for questioning.
Unnamed polices sources told the BBC’s Turkey division that Göktaş spent Thursday night under police custody and is set to be brought before a judge on Friday, reinforcing once more Erdogan’s inability to laugh, smile, or even see the funny side of life as has been evidenced in the past.
The Turkish comedian recorded “The Dead Sea” in Istanbul on June 1, which was then published on his YouTube channel weeks later on June 24. At press time, the Turkish-language show, which runs for about 90 minutes, has over 9.3 million views.
“Hi, I’m Deniz, Following ‘Selam Selam,’ we recorded my second performance on June 1, 2026, in Harbiye. Since June 2023, I’ve been traveling from city to city, telling this story in person as if the printing press had never been invented and the internet didn’t exist,” the video’s description reads.
“This show has been seen in many countries and cities by over 100,000 audience members. Now I’m entrusting it to you here,” the text continues. “I hope you enjoy it. Best regards.”
Euronews, the part of the show critical of Islam that got Göktaş detained by Turkish authorities translates to, “I think it’s [the Qur’an] the best of the four books; for one thing, it’s a bold statement in the 600s. It’s also very difficult for the author; if a new idea comes to mind, too bad, we’ve said, ‘This is the last book…’”
Per Euronews, it remains unclear which part of the performance is allegedly constitutes an “insult” to Erdogan — a crime under the Turkish Penal Code. Göktaş, however, has reportedly called Erdogan a “dictator” who is finally “at peace with his desires.”
Both Sözcü and the Associated Press noted social media posts on X (formerly Twitter) that contained excerpts from Göktaş’ show were blocked from viewing on Turkey on grounds of “protecting the national security and public order.”