Dangerous T-shirts in Turkey

Baku / 13.08.17 / Turan: An Azerbaijani tourist, whose name is not reported, was detained and deported from the Kars town in north-eastern Turkey last week. The reason for this decision of the Turkish authorities was a T-shirt with the inscription HERO, worn by the young man.

Over the past month, due to the inoffensive subject of the wardrobe in Turkey, more than 30 people were persecuted, local media reported.

The paradoxical situation with the print that fell into disgrace on T-shirts begins on July 13. Then the soldier Gökhan Güçlu, accused of involvement in last year"s coup attempt in Turkey, appeared in the courtroom wearing a T-shirt with the inscription HERO. The word was printed in black and white letters on his chest. The inscription caused such indignation in the hall that the judge postponed the hearing.

Representatives of the Turkish prosecutor's office told the media that Güçlü"s sister and the prison bailiffs will be interrogated in the near future. According to investigators, it was the relative who sent the T-shirt to the prisoner, and the employees did not take action on time.

The insulting subject was a T-shirt available on sale and issued by the Turkish brand De Facto, which had never before been considered political. The scandal in court instantly turned an ordinary shirt into a symbol of sympathy for those who oppose the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the policies pursued in the country, Politico writes.

Anyone who wore such a T-shirt in Turkey this summer was detained by the police and accused of "propaganda of terrorism". This wording in today's Turkey means supporting the movement of the Turkish Imam Fethullah Gülen, who is in exile in the United States. The Turkish authorities and President Erdogan personally call this very man the inspirer of the coup attempt in 2016.

The pro-government Turkish newspaper Sabah even found a secret message in the slogan of the T-shirt. HERO, as the newspaper reports, is a shortened abbreviation for Hoca Efendi Razı Olsun. The phrase translates as Let the Teacher Bless You. Hoca Efendi is used as a respectful appeal to religious teachers in Islam and, according to the pro-government newspaper, refers to Gülen.

Many of the detainees did not suspect that they were committing any crime.

Among the detainees there are also a few teenagers, the youngest of whom was 13 years old. The police approached him to check when he was sitting in a café with his father. Among other things, eyewitnesses reported the detention of a student in a completely different T-shirt, with a different inscription, written as Part-Time Hero. -0-