FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Clashes and arrests in Turkey over magazine cartoon allegedly depicting the Prophet Muhammad
Clashes erupted in Istanbul on Monday, with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse a crowd of people, following allegations that a satirical magazine had published a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.
The clashes occurred after the Istanbul chief prosecutor ordered the arrest of the editors of LeMan magazine on the grounds that it had published a cartoon that "publicly insulted religious values."
"The cartoon has no connection in any way with the prophet Muhammad," he told Agence France-Presse.
"In this work, the name of a Muslim who was killed in Israeli bombings is imagined as Muhammad. More than 200 million people in the Islamic world are called Muhammad. But this has nothing to do with the prophet Muhammad. We would never take such a risk," he said.
As the news spread, several dozen angry protesters attacked a bar frequented by LeMan staff in central Istanbul, provoking angry clashes with police, an AFP correspondent said.
Founded in 1991, LeMans is famous for its political satire and has long been anathema to conservatives, particularly after its support for France's Charlie Hebdo after its Paris offices were attacked in 2015 by Islamist gunmen who killed 12 people after the magazine published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya later said that X police had arrested the cartoonist responsible for the image, as well as LeMan's graphic designer.
“The person named DP who made this filthy drawing has been caught and taken into custody,” he wrote, adding: “these shameless individuals will be held accountable before the law.”
Others named in the arrest warrant were the editor-in-chief and managing editor of LeMan, media reports said.
In a series of posts on X, LeMan defended the cartoon and said it was intentionally misinterpreted to cause a provocation.
"The cartoonist wanted to portray the justice of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel; he never intended to undermine religious values."
We do not accept the stigma that has been imposed on us because there is no depiction of our prophet. It takes a very malicious person to interpret the cartoon in this way.
"We apologize to our well-intentioned readers, who we believe succumbed to provocations," the response said.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said an investigation had been opened for "public insult to religious values".
“Disrespect for our beliefs is never acceptable,” he wrote in X, adding that “no freedom gives the right to make the sacred values of a faith the object of ugly humor. Caricature or any form of visual representation of our prophet not only harms our religious values, but also harms social peace.”
Istanbul Governor Davut Gul also strongly criticized "this mentality that seeks to provoke society by attacking our sacred values."
"We will not remain silent in the face of any vile act that targets the faith of our nation," he said. /Adapted from Pamphlet/
Lini një Përgjigje