The top editor of Turkey’s satirical LeMan magazine has been arrested, media and lawyers said on Saturday, the latest arrest on accusations that the magazine had published a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.
Four magazine staffers were arrested in early July over a cartoon that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has labelled a “despicable provocation” and a “hate crime,” warning its creators will have to answer for “disrespecting the prophet.”
The magazine and its staff have vigorously denied any link between an illustration published in the magazine, which features a person named Muhammad, and Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
The name Muhammad, which has various spellings, is among the most popular names the Muslim faithful give their children.
Following his detention at İstanbul Airport upon his return from France on Friday, Özdemir was arrested by an İstanbul court on Saturday.
Several media outlets, including the DHA news agency and the T24 website, released images showing Özdemir leaving the plane handcuffed on Friday.
The drawing in question shows two characters meeting in the sky above a city devastated by bombs.
One is named Muhammad and the other Musa.
Cartoonist Doğan Pehlevan said the drawing was meant “to talk about peace” and condemned “provocateurs.”
“I have been drawing in Turkey for many years. The first rule you learn is not to address religious issues and not to mock religion,” he said in his deposition, according to the T24 news site.
“I have always adhered to this principle. I reject the accusations levelled against me,” he added.
LeMan’s editorial manager, Tuncay Akgün, told Agence France-Presse that the drawing in question “has nothing to do with the Prophet Muhammad. We would never take such a risk.”
“The character is a Muslim killed in Gaza. He was called Muhammad [just like] over 200 million people in the Muslim world,” he said.
© Agence France-Presse
