Turkey Arrests Satirical Magazine Staff Over Alleged Depiction of Prophet Muhammad

Turkish authorities have arrested four senior staff members of the satirical magazine LeMan over a controversial cartoon that has sparked national outrage and violent protests in Istanbul. The drawing, which some claim depicts the Prophet Muhammad—an act considered deeply offensive in Islam—has ignited a fierce debate over freedom of expression and religious sensitivity.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that the magazine’s editor-in-chief, cartoonist, graphic designer, and institutional director were taken into custody. He described the illustration as a "shameless" offense to religious values.

While LeMan insists the cartoon does not represent the Prophet, the backlash has been swift and intense. Protesters gathered outside the magazine’s headquarters on Monday, chanting calls for revenge. Riot police clashed with demonstrators, deploying rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to AFP correspondents on the ground.

Images circulating on social media show two winged figures floating above a war-torn city. One figure greets the other with “Peace be upon you, I’m Muhammed,” to which the second replies, “Peace be upon you, I’m Musa”—the Turkish name for Moses.

Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunç confirmed a criminal investigation has been launched, citing laws against insulting religious values. "Visual representations of our Prophet not only offend our faith but threaten social harmony," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). Arrest warrants have reportedly been issued for other members of the magazine’s leadership.

In a statement also shared on X, LeMan expressed regret toward readers who may have felt offended but rejected claims of intentional provocation. The magazine said the artwork aimed to highlight the plight of oppressed Muslim victims, particularly referencing those killed in Israeli airstrikes, and did not seek to insult Islamic beliefs.

Editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgün, speaking from Paris, defended the cartoon as misunderstood and warned of troubling parallels being drawn with the Charlie Hebdo incident—a reference to the 2015 attack on the French magazine that left 12 people dead after it published similar imagery.

“This comparison is deliberate and alarming,” Akgün said, insisting that LeMan would never publish content designed to mock religious figures.

The incident has reignited a national conversation in Turkey about press freedom, religious boundaries, and the role of satire in a polarized society.