Erdogan condemns blasphemous cartoon
The cartoon was criticized by religious conservatives and Erdogan's ruling party, which called it an 'Islamophobic hate crime,' even as the magazine Leman apologized to readers who felt offended and said it had been misunderstood.
'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.
Four Leman cartoonists were detained late on Monday over the drawing.
The government said an inquiry was launched under a penal code article that criminalizes incitement to hatred and enmity.
Crowds rallied against Leman in central Istanbul on Tuesday, despite a ban on gatherings and a heavy police presence.
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.
The government said an inquiry was launched under a penal code article that criminalizes incitement to hatred and enmity.
A group called Islamic Solidarity Platform called a protest on Tuesday, prompting police to shut Taksim Square and Istiklal, the city's busy shopping thoroughfare.
The group of around 300 protesters shouted slogans at the magazine. According to a correspondent, the protesters were far less aggressive than those who rallied on Monday night, when around 400 people tried to storm a bar frequented by the
magazine staff.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
‘Bury weapons, not children,' Kurdish mothers tell Turkish parliamentary commission
The mothers of some fighters in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) called on Wednesday for an amnesty for their children and an end to decades of death, before a Turkish parliamentary commission overseeing the group's disarmament. 'We mothers do not want to cry anymore. Let us bury weapons, not our children,' Nezahat Teke, a Kurdish mother speaking in broken Turkish, told lawmakers on behalf of a group called the 'Peace Mothers.' The PKK, which took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984, said in May it would disarm and dissolve and last month several members burned weapons in a symbolic ceremony in mountainous northern Iraq, where it is now based. The commission, dubbed the National Solidarity, Fraternity and Democracy Commission, aims to set a path towards lasting peace, which would also resonate in neighboring Syria. 'If we want more weapons to be burned, then those people must be given a chance. If they come down from the mountains only to be sentenced to life in prison, how can we persuade others to burn their weapons?' said Teke, who was wearing a white headscarf, the symbol of the Peace Mothers. More than 40,000 people have been killed over four decades of conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK, which is deemed a terrorist group by Ankara, the European Union and the United States. Rebia Kiran, another mother, asked lawmakers to adopt regulations shielding PKK members from lengthy prison sentences. 'If you want peace, let them join politics instead of being locked away,' she said. The calls for amnesty came a day after the commission heard some Turkish veterans and families of other victims call for PKK members to face legal accountability as part of the peace process.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Al Arabiya
Turkey, US discuss potential steps to end Russia-Ukraine war
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed potential steps to end the Russia-Ukraine war in a phone call on Tuesday, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said. The source said the two also discussed the outcomes of talks between the US and Russian presidents in Alaska and a meeting in Washington involving European leaders, Ukraine and the United States. Fidan and Rubio also discussed ceasefire efforts in Gaza and the latest situation in Syria, the source said, adding Fidan had called for an immediate truce in Gaza and unhindered access of humanitarian aid.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Car set ablaze outside Turkish parliament before meeting on PKK disarmament
ANKARA: A car was set ablaze near Turkiye's parliament on Tuesday in a grim reminder of decades of conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), just hours before families of some victims were to address a commission overseeing the group's disarmament. The PKK, which took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984, said in May it would disarm and dissolve. The parliamentary commission was launched this month to set a path toward lasting peace, which would also resonate in neighboring Iraq and Syria. The white Renault Toros burned for a short time outside parliament's main gate on Tuesday morning. Police in Ankara said in a statement that a man detained for setting it alight suffered from psychological problems and also had a prior criminal record. In the 1990s, during one of the bloodiest phases of the PKK conflict, such vehicles became notorious in the mainly Kurdish southeast where they were linked to abductions and extrajudicial killings blamed on state-linked groups. More than 40,000 people were killed in the fighting over more than four decades. Families of security personnel and civilians killed in the conflict are due to speak at the parliamentary commission on Tuesday, with some expected to question the peace effort. The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkiye and its Western allies. Its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, had urged it to end the insurgency and some militants burned their weapons last month in a ceremony in northern Iraq — where they are now based — marking a symbolic first step.
