Three activists were detained in Turkey for publishing offensive cartoons of prophets in Leman magazine. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya shared a video on Twitter showing police officers detaining cartoonist Dogan Pahelvan. “I condemn those who are trying to sow divisions by caricaturing our Prophet,” Yerlikaya wrote.
Yerlikaya posted two other videos showing two other men being dragged into a van by policemen. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tuncay said detention orders had been issued for six people. In its statement on X, Lemon magazine apologised to readers who were offended and said the cartoon had been misinterpreted. Earlier, videos on internet media showed protesters marching towards Lemon’s office in Istanbul. Meanwhile, Omer Celik, spokesman for the ruling AK Party, said on Tuesday that the cartoons of prophets published by Lemon were an “anti-Islam hate crime.”
The former mayor and municipal officials in the Turkish city of Izmir were detained on Tuesday on charges of alleged corruption. Police detained 120 officials of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), including former Izmir Mayor Tunc Soyer and the party’s provincial leader Senol Aslanoglu, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. The Izmir Public Prosecutor’s Office has issued arrest warrants against 157 officials in connection with alleged rigging and fraud in municipal tenders.