EU minister tweets cartoon mocking him

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

In the cartoon, Egemen Bağış says “What if your egg had hit my eye?”

Turkey’s European Union Minister Egemen Bağış posted on his Twitter account yesterday a cartoon lampooning him that appeared on the cover of the comic magazine Penguen. 

The cartoon refers to a case from last year when a student threw an egg at Bağış and hit him in the eye. It shows Bağış asking a chicken in the process of laying an egg, “What if your egg had hit my eye?” 

“Penguen’s cover did not annoy me; they have a good sense of humor. Bravo!,” Bağış said. 

A prosecutor is seeking jail time for two students who are accused of throwing eggs at Bağış during a visit he made to İzmir’s Ege University in December 2011. The students hurled eggs at Bağış while he was making a speech. One student risks up to five years in jail for “intentionally injuring a person,” while the second faces up to two years for chanting slogans. The two 20-year-olds were detained by police after the incident but were later released. 

On March 21 Bağış defended the charges brought against the students, although he also said he would be happy to eventually see the case dropped. “This is a lawsuit about injuring a person, not about throwing eggs or protesting,” Bağış said.

Penguen is known for its criticism of violations of the freedom of expression in Turkey. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sued the magazine three times, for representing him as a cat and other animals.