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Turkish police detain four magazine employees over cartoon allegedly depicting Prophet Mohammed
Turkish police, on Monday (June 30), detained at least four employees of a weekly satirical magazine, LeMan, over publishing a cartoon that the protesters say was a depiction of the Prophet Mohammed and Moses.
The cartoon seemed to depict a Muslim and a Jewish man, with wings and halos, shaking hands in the sky as missiles rain at buildings below, in a scene resembling war.
Four days after being published in the magazine, the cartoon went viral on social media, sparking protests in Istanbul.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in the Turkish city, with protesters chanting 'Allah is Great' and denouncing the magazine.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya condemns cartoonists over attempts to 'sow discord'
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya condemned the cartoonists over attempts to 'sow discord by drawing caricatures' of Prophet Muhammad, stating that the magazine employees would be held accountable before the law.
He shared a video on his official X account showing police officers detaining cartoonist Dogan Pehlevan. In the clip, Pehlevan's hands could be seen cuffed behind his back while he was being dragged up the stairs of a building.
'I once again curse those who try to sow discord by drawing caricatures of our Prophet Muhammad,' Yerlikaya wrote.
'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,' he added.
He later shared two more videos on his X account showing two other men being forcibly dragged out of their homes and pushed into a van by the police.
Fahrettin Altun, the head communications for the Turkish Presidency, said that the cartoon was a 'vile attack on our beliefs and values.'
Justice ministry announces investigation
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said that an investigation was launched into the matter under Article 216, which criminalises incitement to hatred and enmity, adding that the ministry has issued detention orders for six people.
LeMan magazine apologises
LeMan magazine issued a statement saying that the cartoon did not depict the Islamic prophet and was misunderstood.
'This cartoon is not a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh). In the work, the name Mohammed is fictionalised as belonging to a Muslim person killed in Israel's bombardments. There are more than 200 million people named Mohammed in the Islamic world. The work does not refer to the Prophet Mohammed in any way,' the magazine said in a statement.
'By highlighting a murdered Muslim, the aim was to highlight the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people, with no intention whatsoever of belittling religious values. We reject the stigma imposed on us, as there is no depiction of our Prophet,' it said.
'To interpret the cartoon in such a way requires extreme malice,' it added. The magazine also apologised to the readers who found the cartoon offensive.
(With inputs from Reuters)
