Turkish police detain cartoonist over Prophet Muhammad caricature, sparking protests

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish police on Monday detained a cartoonist over a caricature depicting the Prophet Muhammad, an act that also sparked an angry protest outside the Istanbul office of his satirical magazine, officials and reports said.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on X that Leman magazine’s cartoonist was taken under custody for questioning. The minister also shared a video of the cartoonist — identified only by his initials DP — being taken into custody on a stairwell, with hands cuffed behind the back.

Earlier, the country’s justice minister said an investigation was launched into the magazine, citing possible charges of “publicly insulting religious values.”

A group of youths, reportedly belonging to an Islamist group, hurled stones at Leman’s headquarters after it published a cartoon depicting Prophet Muhammad and Prophet Moses exchanging greetings in mid-air as missiles rain down from the sky.

Yilmaz Tunc, the justice minister, said that cartoons or drawings depicting the Prophet harmed religious sensitivities and social harmony.

“No freedom grants the right to make the sacred values ​​of a belief a subject of humor in an ugly way,” he wrote.

The incident evoked memories of the 2015 Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, when two armed gunmen stormed the offices of the French satirical magazine known for its provocative cartoons, including depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. The attackers killed 12 people, including prominent cartoonists.