01-07-2025
Protests erupt in Istanbul over ‘Prophet Muhammad' cartoon
Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas amid protests in Istanbul over a cartoon allegedly depicting the Prophet Muhammad published in a satirical magazine.
The image in LeMan's June 26 issue thought to show the Prophet Muhammad and Moses shaking hands above a bombed-out city in reference to the recent conflict between Israel and Iran.
It drew a swift backlash on social media, where many accused the magazine of insulting Islamic beliefs.
The justice minister, Yılmaz Tunc, announced on Monday evening that an investigation had been opened under a law relating to publicly insulting religious values.
He said: 'No freedom allows mocking a religion's sacred values in such an offensive manner.'
Istanbul's chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of the magazine's editors on the grounds that it had published a cartoon which 'publicly insulted religious values'.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside LeMan's office on central Istanbul's Istiklal Street on Monday night to express their outrage over the publication, with some armed with sticks and stones.
• Blasphemy work on hold despite rise in extremism reports
Riot police were deployed around the magazine's premises as demonstrators chanted slogans such as 'Kemalist infidels will be held accountable', referring to secular followers of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who founded the Turkish republic and main opposition party the CHP.
The cartoonist, identified by the initials D.P., has been taken into custody, with arrest warrants issued for two editors-in-chief and the managing editor of LeMan, according to the interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya.
One editor-in-chief, Tuncay Akgun, told the AFP news agency by phone from Paris that the image had been misinterpreted and was 'not a caricature of Prophet Muhammad'.
'In this work, the name of a Muslim who was killed in the bombardments [by] Israel is fictionalised as Muhammad. More than 200 million people in the Islamic world are named Muhammad,' he said, saying it had 'nothing to do with Prophet Muhammad'.
He added: 'We would never take such a risk.'
Yerlikaya described the cartoonist as 'despicable' and said 'these shameless people will be held accountable before the law.' He also posted videos showing men being forcibly taken from their homes and dragged into vans by police.
The authorities have recalled the issue containing the cartoon from circulation.
The director of presidential communications, Fahrettin Altun, condemned the publication as an 'immoral attack' on national values.
LeMan rejected claims that their content was 'anti-Muslim' in a statement on social media, apologising to readers who felt offended and saying the cartoon had been misunderstood.
'The cartoonist here wanted to portray the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel, and he never intended to denigrate religious values,' it said.
Depicting the Prophet Muhammad is widely considered forbidden in Islamic tradition as it is believed to prevent idolatry and preserve the sanctity of his image.
LeMan is known for its provocative satire and has previously faced criticism for cartoons relating to a failed coup attempt in 2016 and religious figures such as the 13th-century poet Rumi.
