Latest news with #TuncayAkgun
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Clashes and arrests in Turkey over magazine cartoon allegedly depicting prophet Muhammad
Clashes erupted in Istanbul with police firing rubber bullets and teargas to disperse a mob on Monday after allegations that a satirical magazine had published a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad. The clashes occurred after Istanbul's chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of the editors at LeMan magazine on grounds it had published a cartoon that 'publicly insulted religious values'. The magazine's editor-in-chief, Tuncay Akgun, said the image had been misinterpreted. 'This cartoon is not a caricature of prophet Muhammad in any way,' he told Agence France-Presse. 'In this work, the name of a Muslim who was killed in the bombardments of Israel is fictionalised as Muhammad. More than 200 million people in the Islamic world are named Muhammad. '[It] has nothing to do with prophet Muhammad. We would never take such a risk.' As the news broke, several dozen angry protesters attacked a bar often frequented by LeMan staffers in downtown Istanbul, provoking angry scuffles with police, an AFP correspondent said. The scuffles quickly became clashes involving between 250 to 300 people, the correspondent said. Founded in 1991, LeMan is famed for its political satire and has long been the bane of conservatives, especially following its support for France's Charlie Hebdo after its Paris offices were attacked in 2015 by Islamist gunmen who killed 12 following the magazine's publication of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. The interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, said on that X police had arrested the cartoonist responsible for the image as well as LeMan's graphic designer. 'The person named DP who made this vile drawing has been caught and taken into custody,' he wrote, adding: 'These shameless individuals will be held accountable before the law.' Others named in the arrest warrant were LeMan's editor-in-chief and its managing editor, media reports said. In a string of posts on X, LeMan defended the cartoon and said it had been deliberately misinterpreted to cause a provocation. 'The cartoonist wanted to portray the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel, he never intended to belittle religious values,' it said. 'We do not accept the stigma imposed on us because there is no depiction of our prophet. It takes a very malicious person to interpret the cartoon in this way." 'We apologise to our well-intentioned readers who we think were subjected to provocations.' The justice minister, Yilmaz Tunc, said an investigation had been opened on grounds of 'publicly insulting religious values'. 'Disrespect towards our beliefs is never acceptable,' he wrote on X. 'No freedom grants the right to make the sacred values of a belief the subject of ugly humour. The caricature or any form of visual representation of our prophet not only harms our religious values but also damages societal peace.' Istanbul's governor, Davut Gul, also lashed out at 'this mentality that seeks to provoke society by attacking our sacred values'. 'We will not remain silent in the face of any vile act targeting our nation's faith,' he said.
News24
2 days ago
- Politics
- News24
Clashes erupt in Istanbul over alleged ‘Prophet Muhammed' cartoon which ‘insulted religious values'
Clashes erupted in Istanbul on Monday with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas to break up an angry mob after allegations that a satirical magazine had published a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammed, an AFP correspondent said. The incident occurred after Istanbul's chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of the editors at LeMan magazine on grounds it had published a cartoon which 'publicly insulted religious values'. 'The chief public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the publication of a cartoon in the June 26, 2025 issue of LeMan magazine that publicly insults religious values, and arrest warrants have been issued for those involved,' the prosecutor's office said. A copy of the black-and-white image posted on social media showed two characters hovering in the skies over a city under bombardment. 'Salam aleikum, I'm Muhammed,' says one shaking hands with the other who replies: 'Aleikum salam, I'm Musa.' But the magazine's editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgun told AFP by phone from Paris that the image had been misinterpreted and was 'not a caricature of Prophet Muhammed'. 'In this work, the name of a Muslim who was killed in the bombardments of Israel is fictionalised as Muhammed. More than 200 million people in the Islamic world are named Muhammed,' he said, saying it had 'nothing to do with Prophet Muhammed'. We would never take such a risk. Tuncay Akgun As the news broke, several dozen angry protesters attacked a bar often frequented by LeMan staffers in downtown Istanbul, provoking angry scuffles with police, an AFP correspondent said. The scuffles quickly degenerated into clashes involving between 250 to 300 people, the correspondent said. In several posts on X, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said police had arrested the cartoonist responsible for 'this vile drawing', the magazine's graphic designer and two other staffers. Police had also taken over the magazine's offices on Istiklal Avenue and arrest warrants had been issued for several other of the magazine's executives, presidential press aide Fahrettin Altin wrote on X. In a string of posts on X, LeMan defended the cartoon and said it had been deliberately misinterpreted to cause a provocation. 'The cartoonist wanted to portray the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel, he never intended to belittle religious values,' it said. Akgun said the legal attack on the magazine, a satirical bastion of opposition which was founded in 1991, was 'incredibly shocking but not very surprising'. 'This is an act of annihilation. Ministers are involved in the whole business, a cartoon is distorted,' he said. 'Drawing similarities with Charlie Hebdo is very intentional and very worrying,' he said of the French satirical magazine whose offices were stormed by Islamist gunmen in attack, which killed 12 people, occurred after it published caricatures lampooning the Prophet Muhammed. 'There is a game here, as if we were repeating something similar. This is a very systematic provocation and attack,' Akgun said. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc an investigation had been opened on grounds of 'publicly insulting religious values'. 'Disrespect toward our beliefs is never acceptable,' he wrote on X. 'No freedom grants the right to make the sacred values of a belief the subject of ugly humour. The caricature or any form of visual representation of our Prophet not only harms our religious values but also damages societal peace.' Istanbul governor Davut Gul also lashed out at 'this mentality that seeks to provoke society by attacking our sacred values. 'We will not remain silent in the face of any vile act targeting our nation's faith,' he warned.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Horror moment hundreds storm Turkish magazine wrongly believing it printed forbidden image of Prophet as staff arrested
THIS is the horrifying moment angry protestors storm a Turkish magazine accused of publishing a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad. LeMan is facing heated demonstrations over claims it published a forbidden picture of the sacred Islamic figure - as four employees at the satirical magazine are arrested. 7 7 7 Another four - including the editor-in-chief - were also hit by arrest warrants by Turkish prosecutors. Turkey's interior minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed the warrants and condemned LeMan's drawing as "shameless". LeMan have denied the cartoon was a caricature of Muhammad as they said on X: "The work does not refer to the Prophet Muhammad in any way." But their social media defence did little to calm down up to 300 hundred raging Muslims who took to the streets of Istanbul to protest the magazine. Fierce demonstrations kicked off outside the LeMan headquarters with riot police being deployed to stop the growing crowd. Protesters could be heard chanting "tooth for tooth, blood for blood, revenge, revenge" at one point. As the issues continued on into the evening, cops were forced to use rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowds, witnesses claimed. LeMan's editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgun said the work had been misinterpreted and the magazine would "never take such a risk". Investigations were opened up against the magazine around the June 26, 2025 issue. The controversial image showed a black-and-white image with two characters hovering in the skies over a city under bombardment from air strikes. Brit tourists face holiday chaos with strikes confirmed for 180,000 hospitality staff throughout July on hotspot islands The two men both said their names - Muhammad and Moses - in the cartoon via speech bubbles. Both names are synonyms with religion with Muhammad being sacred among Muslims and Moses being the most important prophet in Judaism as well as being involved in Christianity and Islam. A post from LeMan justified the cartoon as they claimed: "The cartoonist wanted to portray the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel. "He never intended to belittle religious values." Istanbul governor Davut Gul lashed out the cartoonist's reasoning. He said "this mentality seeks to provoke society by attacking our sacred values". Gul added: "We will not remain silent in the face of any vile act targeting our nation's faith." Founded in 1991, LeMan has long lived on the edge through many of their drawings. 7 7 And Akgun now fears the level of backlash his magazine is experiencing draws worrying "similarities with Charlie Hebdo". In 2015, a disturbing attack on a French satirical magazine left 12 people dead after gunmen stormed the publishers after they released a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad. The heinous attack was carried out by al-Qaeda terrorists who caused three days of carnage in Paris after going on the run. Many Muslims view any depiction of Muhammad as sacrilege including pictures, cartoons and artist's interpretations. They are prohibited due to believers fearing it may encourage the worship of idols. Others also say any attempt to picture prophets - including Allah - can't be true and accurate depictions so will therefore be insulting. There is no specific ban in the Koran on images of the Prophet however. Two major events have sparked fury among religious believers in recent years - including the Charlie Hebdo attack. The second saw Swedish artist Lars Vilks draw a sketch of the Prophet Mohammad on a dog's body in 2007. This act prompted years of death threats as Vilks was forced to go into police protection for over a decade following two assassination attempts. In 2021, he was found dead after a mystery car crash. The Charlie Hebdo terror attack OVER a decade ago, al-Qaeda terrorists stormed the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris and killed 12 people in an act of vengeance. Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi, 32 and 34, brutally ambushed the paper's offices in retaliation for a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad being printed. On January 7, 2015, the Kouachi brothers shot and killed the caretaker, Frederic Boisseau, before forcing cartoonist Corinne Rey to open the second-floor office where the editorial meeting was happening. The terrorist brothers stormed the meeting room, killing police officer Franck Brinsolaro, editor Stephane Charbonnier, and cartoonists Jean Cabut, Georges Wolinski, Bernard Verlhac, and Philippe Honore. Economist and writer Bernard Maris, psychiatrist Elsa Cayat, copy editor Mustapha Ourrad and visitor Michel Renaud were also killed in the heinous attack. Five minutes after the attacks, the evil Kouachi brothers came onto the street and got into their car to flee the scene. They attempted to drive north but got into a shootout with a police vehicle where one brave cop, Ahmed Merabet, got wounded before one of the brothers shot him in the head. The two fled to a printworks in the capital before an eight-hour standoff with cops took place. In the early evening, smoke was seen rising from the building as a result of explosions and gunfire. The Kouachi brothers then emerged from the building, firing at police. The terrorists were killed in the shoot out, while two cops were left injured. 7 7
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Clashes in Istanbul over alleged 'Prophet Mohammed' cartoon
Clashes erupted in Istanbul Monday with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas to break up an angry mob after allegations that a satirical magazine had published a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed, an AFP correspondent said. The incident occurred after Istanbul's chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of the editors at LeMan magazine on grounds it had published a cartoon which "publicly insulted religious values". "The chief public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the publication of a cartoon in the June 26, 2025 issue of LeMan magazine that publicly insults religious values, and arrest warrants have been issued for those involved," the prosecutor's office said. A copy of the black-and-white image posted on social media showed two characters hovering in the skies over a city under bombardment. "Salam aleikum, I'm Mohammed," says one shaking hands with the other who replies, "Aleikum salam, I'm Musa." But the magazine's editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgun told AFP by phone from Paris that the image had been misinterpreted and was "not a caricature of Prophet Mohammed". "In this work, the name of a Muslim who was killed in the bombardments of Israel is fictionalised as Mohammed. More than 200 million people in the Islamic world are named Mohammed," he said, saying it had "nothing to do with Prophet Mohammed. "We would never take such a risk." As the news broke, several dozen angry protesters attacked a bar often frequented by LeMan staffers in downtown Istanbul, provoking angry scuffles with police, an AFP correspondent said. The scuffles quickly degenerated into clashes involving between 250 to 300 people, the correspondent said. - Cartoonist, two others held - In several posts on X, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said police had arrested the cartoonist responsible for "this vile drawing", the magazine's graphic designer and two other staffers. Police had also taken over the magazine's offices on Istiklal Avenue and arrest warrants had been issued for several other of the magazine's executives, presidential press aide Fahrettin Altin wrote on X. In a string of posts on X, LeMan defended the cartoon and said it had been deliberately misinterpreted to cause a provocation. "The cartoonist wanted to portray the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel, he never intended to belittle religious values," it said. Akgun said the legal attack on the magazine, a satirical bastion of opposition which was founded in 1991, was "incredibly shocking but not very surprising". "This is an act of annihilation. Ministers are involved in the whole business, a cartoon is distorted," he said. "Drawing similarities with Charlie Hebdo is very intentional and very worrying," he said of the French satirical magazine whose offices were stormed by Islamist gunmen in 2015. The attack, which killed 12 people, occurred after it published caricatures lampooning the Prophet Mohammed. - 'A very systematic provocation' - "There is a game here, as if we were repeating something similar. This is a very systematic provocation and attack," Akgun said. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc an investigation had been opened on grounds of "publicly insulting religious values". "Disrespect towards our beliefs is never acceptable," he wrote on X. "No freedom grants the right to make the sacred values of a belief the subject of ugly humour. The caricature or any form of visual representation of our Prophet not only harms our religious values but also damages societal peace." Istanbul governor Davut Gul also lashed out at "this mentality that seeks to provoke society by attacking our sacred values. "We will not remain silent in the face of any vile act targeting our nation's faith," he warned. bur-hmw/phz
Al Arabiya
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Clashes in Turkey over alleged ‘Prophet Mohammed' cartoon
Clashes erupted in Istanbul Monday with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas to break up an angry mob after allegations that a satirical magazine had published a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed, an AFP correspondent said. The incident occurred after Istanbul's chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of the editors at LeMan magazine on grounds it had published a cartoon which 'publicly insulted religious values.' 'The chief public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the publication of a cartoon in the June 26, 2025 issue of LeMan magazine that publicly insults religious values, and arrest warrants have been issued for those involved,' the prosecutor's office said. A copy of the black-and-white image posted on social media showed two characters hovering in the skies over a city under bombardment. 'Salam aleikum, I'm Mohammed,' says one shaking hands with the other who replies, 'Aleikum salam, I'm Musa.' But the magazine's editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgun told AFP by phone from Paris that the image had been misinterpreted and was 'not a caricature of Prophet Mohammed.' 'In this work, the name of a Muslim who was killed in the bombardments of Israel is fictionalized as Mohammed. More than 200 million people in the Islamic world are named Mohammed,' he said, saying it had 'nothing to do with Prophet Mohammed.' 'We would never take such a risk.' As the news broke, several dozen angry protesters attacked a bar often frequented by LeMan staffers in downtown Istanbul, provoking angry scuffles with police, an AFP correspondent said. The scuffles quickly degenerated into clashes involving between 250 to 300 people, the correspondent said. Cartoonist, two others held In several posts on X, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said police had arrested the cartoonist responsible for 'this vile drawing', the magazine's graphic designer and two other staffers. Police had also taken over the magazine's offices on Istiklal Avenue and arrest warrants had been issued for several other of the magazine's executives, presidential press aide Fahrettin Altin wrote on X. In a string of posts on X, LeMan defended the cartoon and said it had been deliberately misinterpreted to cause a provocation. 'The cartoonist wanted to portray the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel, he never intended to belittle religious values,' it said. Akgun said the legal attack on the magazine, a satirical bastion of opposition which was founded in 1991, was 'incredibly shocking but not very surprising.' 'This is an act of annihilation. Ministers are involved in the whole business, a cartoon is distorted,' he said. 'Drawing similarities with Charlie Hebdo is very intentional and very worrying,' he said of the French satirical magazine whose offices were stormed by extremist gunmen in 2015. The attack, which killed 12 people, occurred after it published caricatures lampooning the Prophet Mohammed. 'A very systematic provocation' 'There is a game here, as if we were repeating something similar. This is a very systematic provocation and attack,' Akgun said. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc an investigation had been opened on grounds of 'publicly insulting religious values.' 'Disrespect towards our beliefs is never acceptable,' he wrote on X. 'No freedom grants the right to make the sacred values of a belief the subject of ugly humor. The caricature or any form of visual representation of our Prophet not only harms our religious values but also damages societal peace.' Istanbul governor Davut Gul also lashed out at 'this mentality that seeks to provoke society by attacking our sacred values. 'We will not remain silent in the face of any vile act targeting our nation's faith,' he warned.
