This statement was originally published on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) website on Jul 2, 2025.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Cartooning for Peace, and Cartoonists Rights condemn the violence and arrests targeting the opposition satirical magazine LeMan in Istanbul. The editorial offices were attacked by a dozen individuals following the publication of a caricature purportedly of the Prophet Muhammad. Four members of the magazine's staff, including the cartoonist who created the illustration in question, were arrested, with a total of six arrest warrants issued. The organizations call on the authorities to release the journalists and the cartoonist, and to ensure the safety of the entire editorial team under threat.
This is a new attack on press freedom in Turkey. While the country ranks 159th in the World Press Freedom Index and journalists are regularly obstructed, the editorial staff of the satirical magazine LeMan is now being targeted.
Following the publication of a caricature, the Istanbul prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation on 30 June against several members of the team for "denigrating religious values." The cartoonist Dogan Pehlivan, who created the cartoon at issue, identified by the initials D.P., the editor-in-chief Zafer Aknar, the graphic designer Cebrail Okcu, and the editorial director, Ali Yavuz, were brutally arrested the same day. Tuncay Akgün, co-founder and former editor-in-chief of LeMan, and Aslan Ozdemir, editor-in-chief, both currently abroad, are also targeted in the arrest warrant.
A few hours later, around ten individuals attacked the media outlet's offices located in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul.
In its 26 June issue, LeMan published a cartoon in which a character says from atop rubble and bombs: "Salam aleykoum, I am Mohammed," to another who replies: "Aleykoum salam, I am Musa (Moses)." The prosecutor's office has decided to seize copies of the issue containing the offending cartoon. LeMan's website, meanwhile, is no longer accessible. Presidential spokesperson Fahrettin Altun, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc, and President Tayyip Erdogan himself have subsequently denounced the cartoon.
We strongly condemn this attack on press freedom. Nothing justifies such violence. We also find it difficult to understand the police’s delay in responding, even though they were deployed in large numbers in recent days to suppress the Pride celebrations. We urge the country's authorities to release the magazine's contributors. The safety of the cartoonists must now be their primary concern.
Erol Önderoglu, RSF Representative in Turkey
As the last bastion of caricature, LeMan is more than ever facing an unacceptable escalation of repression. Cartooning for Peace denounces the systematic political instrumentalisation of press cartoons in Turkey, is alarmed by this judicial attack on an emblematic satirical magazine in the country, and offers its unconditional support to its cartoonist and the members of its editorial staff, who must be released immediately.
Kak, President of Cartooning for Peace
The true meaning and intent of the cartoonist's caricatures are clear. The events in Istanbul over the past 48 hours, including the appalling display of police brutality on official social media and the rallies near LeMan's offices, are based on a lie and are being exploited by political opportunists to justify intimidation and repression. We demand the release of those detained and an immediate end to these baseless prosecutions.
Terry Anderson, Executive Director, Cartoonists Rights
For LeMan's editor-in-chief, Tuncay Akgün, who is traveling abroad, "This is an extremely shocking act of annihilation." The LeMan team refutes the accusations: "The cartoonist wanted to show the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people by depicting a Muslim killed by Israel; he never intended to demean religious values."
After this first attack on the LeMan offices, clashes broke out between individuals and staff at a bar known to be frequented by the magazine's staff. Police then used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the 200 to 300 people gathered in the alley, some of whom threatened the staff and their offices. (VK)
