3 days ago
8
Turkish constabulary detained 3 much employees of a satirical mag connected Tuesday, raising the fig of radical taken into custody implicit a cartoon that allegedly depicted the Prophet Muhammad to four.
The cartoon, published successful LeMan magazine, drew a drawstring of condemnation from authorities officials who stated it represented the Prophet Muhammad and sparked an aggravated protestation extracurricular the magazine's Istanbul office.
LeMan, successful a connection precocious Monday, denied the allegations and insisted the drafting was intended to represent a Muslim antheral named Muhammad and was meant to item the suffering of Muslims.
The pro-government Yeni Safak paper said the cartoon showed "two figures alleged to beryllium Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Moses - with wings and halos - shaking hands successful the sky, portion a warfare country unfolds beneath with bombs raining down." The autarkic Birgun paper besides said the winged figures hovering successful the entity were interpreted by immoderate arsenic Prophets Muhammad and Moses.
Authorities connected Monday launched an probe into the play mag implicit accusations of "publicly insulting spiritual values" and detained the cartoonist, Dogan Pehlevan, from his home.
Islamist protesters clash with Turkish anti riot constabulary officers arsenic they stitchery to protestation LeMan cartoon mag successful Istanbul connected June 30, 2025.
OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images
Overnight, LeMan's Editor-in-Chief Zafer Aknar, graphic decorator Cebrail Okcu and manager Ali Yavuz were besides detained, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Detention warrants were besides issued for 2 editors who are believed to beryllium abroad, the study said.
Late connected Monday, demonstrators, reportedly belonging to an Islamic group, hurled rocks astatine LeMan's office successful cardinal Istanbul and scuffled with police.
The work apologized for immoderate discourtesy caused, but it besides called connected authorities to enactment against what it described arsenic a smear run and to support state 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 down their backs.
"These shameless radical volition beryllium held accountable earlier the law," Yerlikaya wrote connected X.
Peygamber Efendimizin (S.A.V) karikatürünü yaparak nifak tohumları ekmeye çalışanları bir kez daha lanetliyorum.
Bu alçak çizimi yapan D.P. adlı şahıs yakalanarak gözaltına alınmıştır.
Bir kez daha yineliyorum:
Bu hayasızlar hukuk önünde hesap verecektir. pic.twitter.com/7xYe94B65d
"You volition not flight from our information forces oregon from justice," Yerlikaya wrote successful a abstracted post.
"An enactment of annihilation"
But the magazine's editor-in-chief, Tuncay Akgun, told AFP by telephone from Paris that the representation had been misinterpreted and was "not a caricature of Prophet Mohammed."
"In this work, the sanction of a Muslim who was killed successful the bombardments of Israel is fictionalized arsenic Mohammed. More than 200 cardinal radical successful the Islamic satellite are named Mohammed," helium said, saying it had "nothing to bash with Prophet Mohammed.
"We would ne'er instrumentality specified a risk," helium said.
Police had besides taken implicit the magazine's offices connected Istiklal Avenue and apprehension warrants had been issued for respective different of the magazine's executives, statesmanlike property adjutant Fahrettin Altin wrote connected X.
In a drawstring of posts connected X, LeMan defended the cartoon and said it had been deliberately misinterpreted to origin a provocation.
"The cartoonist wanted to represent the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim radical by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel, helium ne'er intended to belittle spiritual values," it said.
Akgun said the ineligible onslaught connected the magazine, a satirical bastion of absorption which was founded successful 1991, was "incredibly shocking but not precise surprising."
"This is an enactment of annihilation. Ministers are progressive successful the full business, a cartoon is distorted," helium said.
"Drawing similarities with Charlie Hebdo is precise intentional and precise worrying," helium said of the French satirical mag whose offices were stormed by Islamist gunmen successful 2015.
The attack, which killed 12 people, occurred aft it published caricatures lampooning the Prophet Mohammed.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.
English (US) ·