Turkey arrests cartoonists as protesters attack magazine over ‘Muhammad’ drawing

Turkish authorities have detained three cartoonists over a satirical drawing published by weekly magazine Leman that depicts a Muslim named Muhammad and a Jew names Moses shaking hands in the sky, while missiles fly below in a scene resembling war.

The cartoon has drawn strong condemnation from government officials and religious conservatives who say it depicts the Prophet Mohammad, with protesters attacking an Istanbul bar frequented by Leman staffers, provoking angry scuffles with police.

In several posts on X, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya says police arrested the cartoonist responsible for “this vile drawing,” the magazine’s editor-in-chief and its graphic designer.

“I once again curse those who try to sow discord by drawing caricatures of our Prophet Muhammad,” Yerlikaya wrote.

Peygamber Efendimizin (S.A.V) karikatürünü yaparak nifak tohumları ekmeye çalışanları bir kez daha lanetliyorum.

Bu alçak çizimi yapan D.P. adlı şahıs yakalanarak gözaltına alınmıştır.

Bir kez daha yineliyorum:
Bu hayasızlar hukuk önünde hesap verecektir. pic.twitter.com/7xYe94B65d

— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) June 30, 2025

Police had also taken over the magazine’s offices on Istiklal Avenue and arrest warrants had been issued for several other of the magazine’s executives, presidential press aide Fahrettin Altin writes on X.

In a statement on X, the Leman magazine apologizes to readers but says the cartoon sought to highlight “the suffering of a Muslim man killed in Israeli attacks,” and that there was no intent to insult Islam or its prophet.

“In this work, the name of a Muslim who was killed in the bombardments of Israel is fictionalized as Muhammad,” Leman editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgun tells AFP by phone from Paris. “More than 200 million people in the Islamic world are named Mohammed.”

“We would never take such a risk,” he adds.

????????
Turquie: Un groupe d’individus a attaqué le journal satirique Leman à Istanbul, en réaction à une caricature montrant le prophète de l’islam et Moïse (Moussa) se serrant la main sur les décombres de Gaza.

La justice a lancé une enquête visant à la fois le journal et les… pic.twitter.com/eGXITX8cJy

— Restitutor Orientis ???????? (@restitutorII) June 30, 2025

An AFP correspondent says scuffles between police and protesters who attacked the bar in downtown Istanbul quickly degenerated into clashes involving between 250 to 300 people.

Earlier in the evening, video footage on social media showed a group of protesters marching to Leman’s office building in central Istanbul, chanting slogans and kicking its entrance doors.