Police in Turkey detain satirical magazine employees over Prophet Muhammad cartoon controversy
The cartoon, published in LeMan magazine, drew a string of condemnation from government officials who stated it represented the Prophet Muhammad and sparked an angry protest outside the magazine's Istanbul office.
LeMan, in a statement late Monday, denied the allegations and insisted the drawing was intended to portray a Muslim man named Muhammad and was meant to highlight the suffering of Muslims.
The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper said the cartoon showed 'two figures alleged to be Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Moses — with wings and halos — shaking hands in the sky, while a war scene unfolds below with bombs raining down.'
The independent Birgun newspaper also said the winged figures hovering in the sky were interpreted by some as Prophets Muhammad and Moses.
Authorities on Monday launched an investigation into the weekly magazine over accusations of 'publicly insulting religious values' and detained the cartoonist, Dogan Pehlevan, from his home.
Overnight, LeMan's Editor-in-Chief Zafer Aknar, graphic designer Cebrail Okcu and manager Ali Yavuz were also detained, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Detention warrants were also issued for two editors who are believed to be abroad, the report said.
Late on Monday, demonstrators, reportedly belonging to an Islamic group, hurled rocks at LeMan's headquarters in central Istanbul and scuffled with police.
The publication apologized for any offense caused, but it also called on authorities to act against what it described as a smear campaign and to protect freedom of expression.
Separate videos of the arrests, shared by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, showed Pehlevan and Yavuz being forcibly taken from their homes, their hands being cuffed behind their backs.
'These shameless people will be held accountable before the law,' Yerlikaya wrote on X.
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Daily Mail
5 hours ago
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Angry protests erupted in Istanbul today following allegations a satirical magazine in Turkey had published a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. A group of some 300 protesters issued a chilling warning as they took to the streets on Tuesday, chanting 'don't forget Charlie Hebdo'. The crowd was referring to the 2015 attack on a Paris magazine when Islamist gunmen killed 12 after it published caricatures lampooning the Prophet Mohammed. Unrest began late on Monday after the city's chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of staff at LeMan, claiming it had published a cartoon that 'insulted religious values'. An angry mob of hardline Islamist protesters clashed with police late into the night after news of the warrant emerged, an AFP correspondent said. 'Down with secularism, long live sharia (law)! Jihad, jihad, martyrdom!' they had shouted while tussling with police, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets. 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'We will not allow anyone to speak against our sacred values,' Erdogan said in televised remarks, adding that authorities would closely follow the legal process. 'Those who show disrespect to our Prophet and other prophets will be held accountable before the law,' he said. The magazine urged authorities to counter what it called a smear campaign, and to protect freedom of expression. Four Leman cartoonists were detained late on Monday over the drawing. Late on Monday, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya shared a video on X showing police officers detaining Pehlevan, the cartoonist, with his hands cuffed behind his back as he was dragged up a stairwell. He also shared videos of three other men being removed from their homes and dragged into vans, one of them barefoot. 'The individual who drew this vile image, D.P., has been apprehended and taken into custody. These shameless people will be held accountable before the law,' Yerlikaya wrote. People shout slogans during a protest against LeMan magazine outside Taksim mosque today Several civil society groups condemned the detentions as a violation of freedom of thought and expression. The government said an inquiry was launched under a penal code article that criminalises incitement to hatred and enmity. Turkey's freedom of expression ranking is low due to restrictions on media and public discourse.
