Four staff members of a Turkish satirical magazine have been arrested after allegedly publishing a cartoon that authorities claim depicts the Prophet Muhammad, a figure whose portrayal is forbidden in Islam.
The cartoon, published in the LeMan weekly magazine, depicts a Muslim and a Jewish figure – both illustrated with wings and halos – shaking hands as bombs rain down below them.
Four days after its release, the image went viral on social media, sparking outrage. Hundreds of protesters marched down Istanbul’s main tourist avenue, chanting “Allahu Akbar”. Turkish officials swiftly denounced the magazine after Istanbul’s chief prosecutor announced the arrest of the magazine editors and the cartoonist on the grounds that it had published a cartoon that “publicly insulted religious values”.
Turkey’s interior minister Ali Yerlikaya called the cartoon a provocation and said those “who dare to do this will be held accountable before the law”. Mr Yerlikaya asserted that the cartoon did not fall under the protections of freedom of expression or speech.
According to Mr Yerlikaya, Turkish police arrested the cartoonist as well as LeMan’s graphic designer. Media reports also stated that arrest warrants had been issued for LeMan’s editor-in-chief and its managing editor, both of whom were named in the investigation.
Fahrettin Altun, the Turkish presidency’s communications chief, condemned it as a “vile attack on our beliefs and values”.
Meanwhile, the justice ministry announced a formal investigation under Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code, which covers the offence of “publicly insulting religious values”.
Yilmaz Tunc, the justice minister, said: “No freedom grants the right to make the sacred values of a belief a subject of humour in an ugly way.”
LeMan, the weekly Turkish political satire magazine, released a statement after the backlash. “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’s editor-in-chief, Tuncay Akgun, said.
“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,” LeMan said.
“To interpret the cartoon in such a way requires extreme malice,” the magazine added, but also offered an apology to any readers who may have been offended.
Istanbul governor Davut Gul confirmed that all four individuals sought in connection with the cartoon are now in police custody. While he did not specify whether any protesters had been detained, Mr Gul noted in a statement that “it has been determined that some individuals mingling among the protesters have engaged in provocative actions”.
He urged protestors to disperse peacefully to protect public safety and prevent further unrest. However, several groups have since called for further demonstrations against the magazine on Tuesday.
Mr Gul earlier also lashed out at “this mentality that seeks to provoke society by attacking our sacred values”.
