Outrage in Turkey over magazine's alleged depiction of Prophet Mohammed in a cartoon
The drawing published in the weekly LeMan magazine shows a man introducing himself as Mohammed to another figure described as Musa - Moses in Arabic and Turkish - as they float above a scene of missiles landing on buildings surrounded by flames.
Turkish television channels showed a crowd shouting 'Long live hell for those savages' as they confronted riot police near the magazine's offices off the busy Istiklal Avenue in central Istanbul, Turkey 's largest city.
Riot police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd, AFP reported.
Istanbul's chief public prosecutor opened an investigation over "publicly insulting religious values" and four staff from LeMan, including the cartoonist responsible for the illustration, were arrested, police said.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya published footage of the arrests, which appeared to show LeMan 's editor-in-chief, cartoonist, graphic designer and manager being handcuffed in police raids on their homes.
"The caricature or any form of visual representation of our Prophet not only harms our religious values but also damages societal peace," Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc wrote on X.
Authorities ordered copies of the LeMan issue containing the image to be confiscated and took steps to block access to the magazine's social media accounts, state news agency Anadolu reported. LeMan 's website was not accessible from Turkey on Tuesday morning.
Muslims widely consider any depiction of God and the Prophet Mohammed to be offensive and therefore forbidden.
LeMan, founded in 1991, said the cartoon was not a depiction of the Prophet and was intended to portray Israeli attacks on Muslim-majority populations.
"In the work, the name of a Muslim who was killed in the bombardments of Israel was fictionalised as Muhammed," the magazine said in a statement published on X. "More than 200 million people in the Islamic world are named Muhammad. There is no reference to the Prophet Muhammad in the work."
It apologised to readers who had been offended and asked 'well-meaning brothers and sisters who are protesting to understand us correctly.'
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said 'the rule of law' was working against 'this mentality that is trying to provoke society by attacking our sacred values'. He also called on protesters to disperse and said some were engaged in 'provocative actions.'
'No one has the right or freedom to commit a crime, regardless of the reason,' Mr Gul said in a statement published on his social media accounts.
There have been calls for more protests on Tuesday.
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