Ankara, Turkey – Clashes broke out in Istanbul on Monday between Turkish police and protesters angered by a cartoon they considered offensive to the Prophet Muhammad, published in a local satirical magazine.
The unrest began when police tried to disperse demonstrators using rubber bullets and tear gas. According to AFP, the protests erupted following the arrest of the cartoonist and three other journalists associated with the publication.
Turkish prosecutors confirmed that editors of Leman, a well-known satirical magazine, were detained over the cartoon, which appeared in the June 26 issue. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the cartoonist and two senior staff members, along with a graphic designer, had been taken into custody.
The Istanbul prosecutor’s office stated it had opened an investigation, alleging the cartoon explicitly insulted religious values, and issued arrest warrants for those involved.
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Following news of the arrests, about 300 protesters gathered near Leman’s offices in central Istanbul, clashing with police trying to break up the crowd.
The black-and-white cartoon, which spread widely on social media, shows a city under bombardment with two winged men shaking hands in the sky. One says, “Peace be upon you, I’m Muhammad,” and the other replies, “And peace be upon you, I’m Moses.” Many interpreted the image as depicting the prophets Muhammad and Moses in conversation, a depiction considered highly sensitive in Islam.
However, Leman’s editor-in-chief, Tuncay Akgün, told AFP the cartoon had been misunderstood and was “not a caricature of Prophet Mohammed,” he said. “It depicts a Muslim man named Muhammad who was killed in an Israeli airstrike. It’s a fictional work highlighting the plight of innocent Muslims. Over 200 million people worldwide are named Muhammad.”
The magazine reiterated this defense on X, saying the cartoonist aimed to show the dignity of oppressed Muslims, not insult religious beliefs.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident on Tuesday, Turkish authorities arrested more than 150 people in the western city of Izmir, including members of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and a former mayor.
Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that 157 people were detained in a corruption probe involving alleged fraud and bid rigging in municipal contracts. Murat Bakan, a CHP lawmaker from Izmir, said the former mayor, Tunç Soyer, was among those taken into custody along with senior municipal officials and party members.
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Bakan accused the government of using the judiciary for political ends. “We woke up to another raid this morning,” he wrote on X. “We are facing a process similar to what happened in Istanbul. The scene we are witnessing today is not a product of the rule of law but of a judicial system acting on instructions.”
Earlier this year, Turkish authorities arrested Istanbul’s popular opposition mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, on corruption charges he denies; a move that sparked the country’s largest street protests in nearly a decade and rattled Turkish markets.
The CHP has rejected the allegations, describing the arrests as politically motivated efforts to weaken President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s opponents ahead of future elections. Turkish officials, however, insist the judiciary is independent and that the arrests are lawful.
