Turkish Magazine's Prophet Muhammad Cartoon Causes Uproar

Hundreds of people came onto the streets in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Monday, June 30, after LeMan magazine published a cartoon, which appears to show the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H). 

LeMan wrote on X, "The work does not refer to the Prophet Muhammed in any way."

Portestors gathered outside the magazine's offices in the city, chanting, "tooth for tooth, blood for blood, revenge, revenge".

Riot police were deployed, and a correspondent from Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported seeing rubber bullets and tear gas being fired to disperse the crowds. 

The country's interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, revealed that the magazine's editor-in-chief, graphic designer, institutional director, and cartoonist have been detained. 

The chief public prosecutor's office has initiated an investigation into the matter for "publicly insulting religious values".

The country;s justice minister, Yilmaz Tunc, said that the necessary legal measures will be taken against the detainees. 

Arrest warrants have been issued for other members of the magazine's senior management.

LeMan has apologized fo the cartoon, but they had rejected allegations that the cartoon depicts the Prophet. 

The cartoonist wanted to portray the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel, and he never intended to insult religious values," the magazine said in a statement on X. 

"We do not accept the stain that is cast on us because there is no depiction of our Prophet. You have to be very malicious to interpret the cartoon in this way." 

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