Turkish police arrested three staff members of the satirical magazine LeMan on Monday night, accusing them of publishing a cartoon that allegedly depicts the Prophet Muhammad—an act authorities said "publicly offends religious values" and violates Turkish law.
The arrests triggered clashes in central Istanbul. Riot police fired rubber bullets and used tear gas to disperse demonstrators protesting in support of the magazine. The black-and-white cartoon shows two figures floating in the sky above a bombed-out city, with missiles flying below in a wartime scene.
One figure says, “Salaam Alaikum, I’m Muhammad,” and shakes hands with the other, who replies, “Peace be upon you, I’m Musa.” Many interpreted the cartoon as portraying the Prophet Muhammad and Moses, suggesting interfaith harmony in heaven, in contrast with religious conflict on earth.
Turkish authorities, however, saw it differently. They considered the depiction of Muhammad—prohibited in many interpretations of Islam—as deeply offensive. The Interior Ministry announced the arrest of cartoonist Dogan Pehlivan, one of the magazine’s editors and its graphic designer.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya posted three arrest videos on the social media platform X, including one showing Pehlivan being dragged by officers down a stairwell in handcuffs and others showing the remaining suspects handcuffed and detained from their homes, one of them barefoot.
“I curse those who try to sow division by drawing cartoons of our Prophet Muhammad,” Yerlikaya wrote. “The person who drew this malicious cartoon has been caught. These shameless individuals will face justice.” Turkish police also raided Leman’s offices on İstiklal Avenue and issued arrest warrants for additional senior staff.
Following news of the arrests, dozens of angry protesters gathered near LeMan’s offices in central Istanbul—an area frequented by the magazine’s writers and readers—and vandalized a nearby bar.
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The situation quickly escalated into violent confrontations with police, eventually drawing between 250 and 300 participants. Officers used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up the crowd.
LeMan’s editorial board defended the cartoon, accusing critics of deliberately misinterpreting it to provoke backlash. Editor-in-chief Tuncay Akgun insisted the figure in the cartoon was not Muhammad but rather a generic Muslim civilian meant to symbolize a victim of Israeli airstrikes.
“Muhammad is one of the most common names in the Muslim world, carried by over 200 million people,” Akgun said, adding that the figure had no connection to the Prophet. “We would never take such a risk.”
In a series of posts on X, LeMan said that the artist’s intent was to highlight the suffering of oppressed Muslims, particularly one killed by Israel, and that “there was never any intent to mock Islamic values.” Akgün added that the backlash against Leman was “a carefully orchestrated smear campaign,” alleging government involvement.
Founded in 1991, LeMan is known for its critical stance toward Turkey’s leadership and is widely viewed as a stronghold of the opposition. “This is an act of destruction. The cartoon’s presentation was distorted and the legal assault on us is outrageous—but sadly, not surprising,” Akgun said.
He also pushed back against comparisons between LeMan and French magazine Charlie Hebdo, which intentionally published caricatures mocking Muhammad and was later targeted in a 2015 terrorist attack that killed 12 staff members. “That comparison is deliberate and deeply troubling,” he warned.
Turkey consistently ranks among the world’s most repressive countries for freedom of expression. According to Reporters Without Borders, Turkey ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index.