JOURNALISTS ARRESTED IN TURKEY OVER MUHAMMAD CARTOON

Istanbul, Turkey – Istanbul's judiciary has issued arrest warrants for journalists from a leading Turkish satirical magazine, Leman, including the cartoonist, on charges of "openly denigrating religious values."

The situation risked escalating significantly late on June 29 as a group of Islamists assaulted the magazine's headquarters in central Istanbul, attempting to force open the building's door and breaking windows with stones and sticks before being stopped by police.

The controversial cartoon, published in the June 26 issue, depicts Muhammad and Moses suspended in the air amidst a hail of bullets and bombs, against a backdrop of a burning city. Muhammad greets Moses with a typical Muslim salutation ("Selam aleykum"), and Moses responds with a typical Jewish greeting ("Aleikhem shalom") as the two shake hands.

As news of the cartoon spread, dozens of enraged protestors attacked a bar frequently patronized by Leman employees, leading to violent clashes with police. Videos shared on social media also showed some Islamists breaking down the door of the building housing the magazine and entering before being apprehended by police. Meanwhile, dozens gathered nearby on Istanbul's main pedestrian street, Istiklal Caddesi, protesting against the magazine and chanting slogans like "long live Sharia" and "eye for an eye, blood for blood, revenge for revenge."

Fahrettin Altun, communications director for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, condemned the publication of the Muhammad cartoon, calling Leman magazine "immoral." "This insult and disrespect towards our Prophet, the sole guide for Muslims, cannot be masked by freedom of the press," Erdoğan's communications chief stated.

The cartoon's publication also triggered a reaction from the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office, which ordered an investigation and the arrest of the magazine's owner, editor-in-chief, a managing editor, and the cartoonist. The prosecutor also ordered the seizure of the weekly magazine and the blocking of Leman's social media profiles. Subsequently, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that police had arrested the cartoonist, sharing a video on X (formerly Twitter) of his detainment, showing officers pressing him against a building staircase.

"The person named D.P. who created this vile drawing has been caught and arrested," the minister wrote, adding that "these shameless individuals will be held accountable before the law."

This is not the first time satirical magazine offices have been attacked in Turkey. In 2012, individuals set fire to the headquarters of Penguen, which has since closed. In 2011, Bahadir Baruter, a well-known satirical artist, was prosecuted for a caricature mocking religion, on charges of "insulting religious values." In 2015, two journalists from the newspaper Cumhuriyet, Ceyda Karan and Hikmet Cetinkaya, faced legal proceedings for publishing the cover of Charlie Hebdo's issue—released after the January 7 attack on the French magazine that year, claimed by Al Qaeda and which cost 12 lives—alongside their bylines in their editorials.