The $5 T-shirt that could get you detained in Turkey
In Saudi Arabia it's a miniskirt that will get you arrested; these days in Turkey, it is a not-so-basic white T-shirt bearing a particular four-letter word: H-E-R-O.
Wearing it, Turkish authorities believe, signals support for the people accused of plotting to overthrow this country's government.
A young man and woman out for a motorcycle ride on Saturday became the latest people swept up in the government's detentions after being spotted on traffic cameras, wearing the T-shirt that so angers authorities here. Police tracked them down on a university campus in Antalya, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, before taking them into custody for questioning.
The pair reportedly told police they had no idea about the controversy and haven't been following the news.
In another case, a waiter, also in Antalya, was reported to police by his colleagues for coming to work wearing the T-shirt.
Why has a cheap top created so much uproar? Psychiatrist Cemal Dindar puts it this way: "The feeling that we're living in a secure time and place is gradually being eroded."
In a post-coup attempt reality, people are looking for clear answers, and in the absence of them, clinging to whatever they can to prove their points.
A symbol, but of what?
"Symbols have replaced facts," he says. "People are trying to solve things using symbols, but everyone uses those symbols to construct their own realities."
The T-shirt scandal started July 13, when a former army officer accused of being part of the attempted coup last summer appeared before a judge wearing a white shirt with a black rectangle emblazoned with big block letters. Beneath "HERO", in smaller font, is the phrase "Heroes are Immortal."
The initial outrage was over the word's literal meaning. Survivors of the coup attempt and their supporters carried signs saying "Criminals can't be heroes!" outside the courthouse.
Suspects appearing in court in Turkey aren't forced to wear orange jumpsuits — as they were by the U.S. government at the prison on Guantanamo Bay — and supporters of the current government believe that proves how just and magnanimous the Turkish leadership is.
A new meaning for 'H-E-R-O'
Two days after the officer's hearing, at commemoration events for the July 15 coup attempt anniversary, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared, "From now on, those who appear in court should wear a uniform, like at Guantanamo," also advocating for the death penalty for anyone involved in the failed coup. "We're going to rip off these traitors' heads!," Erdogan added.
Since then, pro-government media have published articles alleging the mass-market message-T is actually a coded, conspiratorial and dangerous message: "Hoca Efendi Rahat Ol" which translates to "No Need to Worry, Sir Teacher."
Hoca in this context means religious teacher, and government supporters are pushing the idea that anyone who wears the shirt is trying to send a message to Fethullah Gulen.
Gulen, a cleric living in Pennsylvania in self-imposed exile, is the man the Erdogan government accuses of orchestrating the failed coup. He has a vast network of schools and organizations around the world.
Most Turks, whether they support President Erdogan or not, believe Gulen is a threat to Turkey.
Arbitrary arrests, enhanced surveillance
The T-shirt cases have been mocked by critics of the government and those concerned about the arbitrary nature of the arrests and the level of suspicion and surveillance in the country. Looking at the pictures of the young couple questioned over the weekend, social media users pointed out they in no way seem to fit the profile of a pious Gulen supporter.
The headlines, serious and humorous, serve to distract from very real concerns in Turkey that a group with pervasive and powerful reach was trying to take down the government and concerns over the severity of the government's response.
Serious questions that need to be answered in the courts and by the country's top politicians are being drowned out, Dindar says.
"Constructing fantasies," or controversies around things like T-shirts, "is an obstacle to actually discussing the real problem," he says.
But the T-shirt problem is being handled quite swiftly. Turkish clothing chain Defacto has pulled the product from its online store and from its store shelves.
