Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday denounced a blasphemous cartoon published in a satirical magazine, calling it a “vile provocation” as outrage intensified.
It was criticised by political leadership in Turkey and Erdogan’s ruling party, which called it an “Islamophobic hate crime.” The magazine Leman apologised to readers and said it had been misunderstood.
“We will not allow anyone to speak against our sacred values,” Erdogan said in televised remarks, adding that authorities would closely follow the legal process.
“Those who show disrespect […] will be held accountable before the law,” he said. The four Leman cartoonists were detained late on Monday over the drawing.
The cartoonist, Dogan Pehlevan, had sought to highlight “the suffering of a Muslim man killed in Israeli attacks”, it said, adding there was no intent to insult Islam.
The magazine urged authorities to counter what it called a smear campaign, and to protect freedom of expression.
More than 200 people rallied against Leman in central Istanbul on Tuesday, despite a ban on gatherings and a heavy police presence.
One protester, public servant Muhammed Emin Necipsoy, said the magazine’s defence seemed insincere.
Late on Monday, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya shared a video on X showing police officers detaining Pehlevan, the cartoonist, with his hands cuffed behind his back as he was dragged up a stairwell.
He also shared videos of three other men being removed from their homes and dragged into vans, one of them barefoot.
“The individual who drew this vile image, DP, has been apprehended and taken into custody. These shameless people will be held accountable before the law,” Yerlikaya wrote.
The government said an inquiry was launched under a penal code article that criminalises incitement to hatred and enmity.
