A cartoon published by Turkey’s satirical magazine LeMan has ignited street clashes and legal action after it appeared to portray Islamic prophets, prompting accusations of sacrilege.
On Monday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside LeMan’s offices in Istanbul, clashing with police who used water cannons to disperse the crowd that deemed the cartoon “blasphemous.”
The contentious illustration shows two speech‑bubble characters—one saying “Salam aleikum, I’m Muhammad,” the other replying “Aleikum salam, I’m Musa”—hovering over a bomb‑littered cityscape.
Critics argued the imagery insulted both Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Moses, while calling for the magazine’s closure under the hashtags “lemandergisikapatılsın” and “lemankapatılsın.”
In response, Turkey’s chief prosecutor in Istanbul issued arrest warrants for LeMan’s editorial team.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed on X that four individuals have been detained: the cartoonist, the graphic designer, the editor‑in‑chief, and the institutional director.
A video posted by the minister shows police taking the director into custody.
“These individuals publicly insulted religious values and must face justice,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
LeMan’s editor‑in‑chief, Tuncay Akgun, defended the artwork in a phone interview with AFP, insisting the cartoon did not depict the prophets. He explained that the name “Muhammad” referred to a fictional civilian casualty in recent Israel bombardments, noting that over 200 million people worldwide share the name.
“We would never risk offending religious sentiments,” he said, calling the controversy a misunderstanding of the cartoon’s intent.
Similar bans on satirical depictions of religious figures have led to tensions in Turkey before, where freedom of expression often collides with deep‑rooted cultural and religious norms.
The legal proceedings against LeMan’s staff are expected to test the boundaries of artistic license and Turkey’s blasphemy statutes in the months ahead.
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