Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya shared footage of the arrests, showing some detainees barefoot and handcuffed. The magazine's latest issue was also seized while access to its website and its X account was blocked 

Four staff members of Turkish satirical magazine LeMan were arrested and protesters threatening to storm the magazine gathered in front of its offices in İstanbul’s busy İstiklal Street overnight over a cartoon published in its June 26 issue, which critics allege depicted the Prophet Muhammad.

Prosecutors swiftly launched an investigation into the magazine on charges of “publicly insulting religious values,” and police arrested Executive Editor Zafer Aknar, Art Director Cebrail Okçu, cartoonist Doğan Pehlivan, and Administrative Manager Ali Yavuz during raids on their homes on 30 June. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya shared footage of the arrests, showing some detainees barefoot and handcuffed. Two other senior editors were reported to be abroad.

In X posts, Yerlikaya condemned the cartoon as a “vile drawing” that aimed to “sow discord,” and called it “shameless.”

The cartoon in question, widely circulated on social media, shows two winged figures floating over a bombed cityscape. One says, “Peace be upon you, I’m Muhammed,” and the other replies, “Peace be upon you, I’m Musa” (the Turkish form of Moses). Critics claim the character named Muhammed was intended to depict the Prophet, an image considered forbidden in Islam. Protesters gathered in front of LeMan's office on the night of 30 June, chanting slogans such as “Long live Sharia,” and “Tooth for tooth, blood for blood, revenge, revenge.”

The magazine, however, has denied the cartoon was a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad and denounced claims to that effect as "malicious." In a statement posted on X, LeMan apologized to “well-intentioned readers who may have felt hurt” but added that the cartoon was intended to highlight the suffering of oppressed Muslims, specifically referencing victims of Israeli attacks. “The cartoonist wanted to portray the righteousness of oppressed Muslims by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel, and he never intended to insult religious values,” the magazine said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denounced LeMan on 1 July, calling the cartoon a “disrespect” that is “absolutely unacceptable.” “What has been done under the guise of satire is clearly an incitement, a vile provocation,” he said. “Those who act arrogantly will be held accountable before the law. We will not allow anyone to insult our sacred values.”

Earlier, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç confirmed that an investigation was opened under Article 216 of the Turkish Criminal Code for “publicly insulting religious values.” “Such caricatures harm not only religious values but also societal peace,” Tunç said on X, promising that legal action would be taken swiftly. Other high-ranking officials, including Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Family Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, and MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, also condemned the magazine. Former Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu criticized the cartoon while urging calm.

Main opposition CHP leader Özgür Özel, on the other hand, defended LeMan, saying, “I will not allow disrespect toward the Prophet Muhammad, but I also won’t remain silent in the face of a collective lynching over an accusation that was never committed.”

İstanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor ordered the seizure of the magazine’s latest issue while access to LeMan’s website and its X account was blocked.