Turkish cartoon row deepens: ‘LeMan’ staff remanded over ‘disrespectful’ drawing

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Protesters demonstrate against cartoonists of a satirical magazine following allegations that it had published a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, outside Taksim mosque in Istanbul on July 1, 2025. — AFP pic

ISTANBUL, July 3 — Four staff members at satirical Turkish magazine LeMan were remanded in custody Wednesday over accusations they published a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad, a case that watchdogs have called an attack on press freedom.

The four, who deny any link between the illustration and the prophet, were held as part of prosecutors’ probe into what Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc called the “disrespectful drawing”.

He added that a warrant has been issued for two additional suspects who were abroad.

The publication of the cartoon and arrests of staff at the opposition magazine led to clashes in Istanbul on Monday.

News site T24 published the police deposition of cartoonist Dogan Pehlevan in which he said that he wanted “to talk about peace in this drawing” and condemned “provocateurs”.

“I have been drawing in Turkey for many years. The first rule you learn is not to address religious issues and not to mock religion,” he said.

“I have always adhered to this principle. I reject the accusations levelled against me,” he added.

The drawing in question shows two characters meeting in the sky above a city devastated by bombs.

One is named Muhammed and the other Musa.

“I just wanted to highlight the absurdity of war, to show that people can get along but do you have to be dead to realise that? That’s my only message,” he added.

On Monday evening, a favourite haunt of LeMan staff in the Istiklal district of Istanbul was attacked.

It escalated into a pitched battle between about 300 people, including people defending the magazine and furious at the arrests.

On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the cartoon a “despicable provocation” and a “hate crime” whose authors will have to answer for “disrespecting the prophet”.

‘Political opportunists’

Despite a ban, some 300 people also gathered around Taksim Mosque in central Istanbul, shouting “don’t forget Charlie Hebdo”, referring to a deadly Islamist militant attack on the French magazine in 2015.

LeMan’s editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgun told AFP that the drawing in question “has nothing to do with the Prophet Muhammad”, adding: “We would never take such a risk.”

“The character is a Muslim killed in Gaza... He was called Muhammed (like) more than 200 million people in the Muslim world,” he said.

In a joint statement, Turkey’s TGS press union and professional organisations said they had “great concern” at the rise in attacks and “violent rhetoric” due to the publication.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, the international network Cartooning for Peace and the US association Cartoonists Rights condemned the attack on press freedom in Turkey.

They called on the Turkish authorities to ensure the safety of the editorial team.

Terry Anderson, of Cartoonists Rights, said the arrests were “based on a lie and are being exploited by political opportunists for intimidation and repression”.

“We demand the release of those detained and an immediate end to these baseless prosecutions,” he added.

Many Turks and press organisations drew a parallel with the attack on LeMan and the Sivas massacre in 1993, when a radical Islamist mob set fire to a hotel, killing 33 writers and artists mainly from the Alevi minority.

The protesters had been angered by the presence of the writer Aziz Nesin who had questioned the authenticity of the Quran and also sought to translate Salman Rushdie’s controversial novel The Satanic Verses. — AFP