In its 26 June issue, the Turkish satirical magazine LeMan published a cartoon in which one character, floating amidst rubble and bombs, shakes hands with another and says:"Salam aleykum, I am Muhammad", who replies:"Aleykum salam, I am Musa (Moses)".
The public prosecutor's office seized copies of the issue containing the cartoon and the LeMan website is no longer accessible. Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc and President Tayyip Erdogan himself have criticised and denounced the cartoon.
Erdogab declared: "This is a clear incitement disguised de humor, a vile provocation.
In fact. our security and judiciary inmediately took action regarding this hate crime."
Turkish police clashed with protesters after the prosecutor ordered arrests at LeMan magazine, whose editor-in-chief denies the accusation and says the image has been deliberately misinterpreted and that the character depicts an ordinary Muslim.
In clashes in Istanbul, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse a crowd following allegations that the satirical magazine LeMan had published a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad.
The chief prosecutor of Istanbul ordered the arrest of the editors of LeMan magazine for publishing a cartoon that "publicly insulted religious values".
According to The Guardian' s account, citing an AFP correspondent as a source, several dozen protesters attacked a bar frequented by LeMan employees in central Istanbul after the news broke, leading to violent clashes with police. According to Cartoonist for Peace, another group also attacked the magazine's offices in Istanbul's Beyoglu district.
The media's editor-in-chief, Tuncay Akgun, said the image had been misinterpreted.
"This cartoon is in no way a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed," he told Agence France-Presse."In this work, the name of a Muslim who died in the Israeli bombings is fictionalised as Muhammed. More than 200 million people in the Islamic world are called Muhammed."
"It has nothing to do with the Prophet Mohammed. We would never take that risk," he added.
The magazine published a statement on its X account in the same terms
Following the publication of these cartoons, on 30 June, the Istanbul public prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation against several members of the Leman magazine team for "denigrating religious values". Those under investigation are cartoonist Doğan Pehlivan, who drew the cartoon of discord, identified by the initials D.P., editor-in-chief Zafer Aknar, graphic designer Cebrail Okcu, and editorial director Ali Yavuz, who were arrested the same day. Arrest warrants were issued for Tuncay Akgün, co-founder and former editor-in-chief of LeMan, and Aslan Ozdemi, editor-in-chief, both currently abroad.
Photo of the page with the cartoon in question / Cartooning for peace
Humour in trouble, a collection of cases
Cases of cartoonists who have had problems of some importance because of their cartoons or satirical illustrations. There are also some stories of other people who, without being cartoonists, have got into trouble for sharing them.
