Turkish police detain 3 more employees of satirical magazine over prophet cartoon controversy
ISTANBUL AP Turkish police detained three more employees of a satirical magazine on Tuesday raising the number of people taken into custody over a cartoon that allegedly depicted the Prophet Muhammad to four The cartoon published in LeMan magazine drew a string of condemnation from cabinet personnel who stated it represented the Prophet Muhammad and sparked an angry protest outside the magazine s Istanbul office LeMan in a message late Monday denied the assertions and insisted the drawing was intended to portray a Muslim man named Muhammad and was meant to highlight the suffering of Muslims The pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper commented the cartoon established two figures alleged to be Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Moses with wings and halos shaking hands in the sky while a war scene unfolds below with bombs raining down The independent Birgun newspaper also mentioned the winged figures hovering in the sky were interpreted by a few as Prophets Muhammad and Moses Agents on Monday launched an research into the weekly magazine over accusations of publicly insulting religious values and detained the cartoonist Dogan Pehlevan from his home Overnight LeMan s Editor-in-Chief Zafer Aknar graphic designer Cebrail Okcu and manager Ali Yavuz were also detained the state-run Anadolu Agency communicated Detention warrants were also issued for two editors who are maintained to be abroad the assessment reported Late on Monday demonstrators reportedly belonging to an Islamic group hurled rocks at LeMan s headquarters in central Istanbul and scuffled with police The publication apologized for any offense caused but it also called on officers to act against what it described as a smear campaign and to protect freedom of expression Separate videos of the arrests shared by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya demonstrated Pehlevan and Yavuz being forcibly taken from their homes their hands being cuffed behind their backs These shameless people will be held accountable before the law Yerlikaya wrote on X Source
