Barbaros Şansal, one of Turkey’s most famous fashion designers and an outspoken critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was briefly detained in İstanbul for comments critical of the Turkish government during a YouTube show in 2019, he announced on social media.
Şansal, who was briefly held by authorities on entry to Turkey on charges of “publicly inciting hatred and hostility” issued by an İzmir court, announced his detention on X on Monday. The fashion designer was detained by police at passport control following his arrival at İstanbul Airport from the Ercan Airport in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) at around noon, according to Turkish media reports. He was released after providing a statement to the police.
Şansal was detained for comments made in 2019 during the YouTube show “Soramazsın” (You Can’t Ask). The designer was asked about a controversial video he posted on New Year’s Day 2017 that apparently incited an attack by a nationalist mob at an İstanbul airport and detention in January 2017.
In the video he criticized Turks for attending New Year’s Eve celebrations despite problems in Turkey, such as mass detentions, corruption, rape, bribery and bigotry. “I won’t celebrate. Do you know what I’m gonna do? I will drink all the drinks in this bar and then more at home,” Şansal said in the video before adding, “Drown in your shit, Turkey!”
After being taken into police custody at the airport in 2017, he appeared in court and was arrested the following day, charged with “inciting the public to hatred or hostility” under Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code. Şansal said the words he used were “a satire related to discrimination” and denied the accusations leveled against him.
He was released from Silivri Prison, where most of Turkey’s political prisoners are incarcerated, on March 2, 2017, after spending 56 days in a solitary cell. He faced harassment due to his sexual identity during the initial days of his imprisonment, according to his account.
When asked about his final remark in the YouTube program, Şansal stated that he stands by what he said.
“[Turkey] is already drowning. … Yes, I said it. I said it against pedophilia. … I said it against the imprisonment of 150 journalists behind bars. I said it against those who interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and stir up other regions,” he added.
Şansal, who is also an LGBTI+ activist, told Turkish Minute in an interview in 2021 that he moved to northern Cyprus because he felt his life and property were not safe in Turkey. He said his opposition to Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) had made his life intolerably difficult in the country.
