Protests erupt in Turkey over Prophet Muhammad cartoon: Erdogan calls it 'hate crime'; magazine denies charge
'Those who are insolent towards our Prophet and other prophets will be held accountable before the law,' Erdogan declared, as authorities moved swiftly to seize copies of the issue and initiate legal proceedings.
The controversy began after the magazine published a cartoon that, according to government officials, depicts the Prophet Muhammad—a figure whose visual representation is forbidden in Islam. Four senior employees of LeMan, including the editor-in-chief, cartoonist, designer, and institutional director, were arrested on charges of 'publicly insulting religious values.'
Turkey's interior minister Ali Yerlikaya labelled the cartoon 'shameless' and shared footage of the arrests on social media, vowing, 'These shameless people will be held accountable before the law.
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LeMan, however, has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the magazine said: 'The cartoonist wanted to portray the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel.
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He never intended to insult religious values.'
The magazine stressed that the character was not the Prophet Muhammad but a man named Muhammad, a common name among Muslims. 'We would never take such a risk,' editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgun told AFP from Paris. 'This cartoon is not a caricature of Prophet Muhammad in any way.'
Despite the magazine's defence, tensions flared in Istanbul. Riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas on Monday to disperse a crowd of several hundred protesters who had gathered outside LeMan's headquarters, chanting slogans like 'revenge, revenge.'
Elsewhere, demonstrators attacked a bar frequented by magazine staff. Istanbul's governor, Davut Gul, vowed that officials 'will not remain silent in the face of any vile act targeting our nation's faith.
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Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc announced an investigation, saying, 'The caricature or any form of visual representation of our Prophet not only harms our religious values but also damages societal peace.' Presidential press aide Fahrettin Altun confirmed that police had taken over LeMan's offices and that arrest warrants had been issued for additional editors believed to be abroad.
Founded in 1991, LeMan is known for its political satire and had previously expressed solidarity with France's Charlie Hebdo, the target of a deadly Islamist attack in 2015 over similar content. Akgun warned of 'very worrying' parallels being drawn with Charlie Hebdo, adding, 'This is an act of annihilation… a cartoon is distorted and ministers are involved.'
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