Istanbul village heads file complaint over ‘insulting’ cartoon cover

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

The Istanbul Village Heads Solidarity Association has filed a criminal complaint against Turkish cartoon magazine Leman’s management and one of its caricaturists over an “insulting” cover, which depicted a village head - allegedly drawn akin to jailed outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan - taking a selfie with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The association’s head, Selami Aykut, also called on Erdoğan to take a selfie together, in solidarity against the magazine’s teasing of the president’s frequent meetings addressing village heads. 

Some 15 village heads gathered in front of the Bakırköy courthouse in Istanbul on April 7, before filing their criminal complaint against Leman’s “unsubstantiated, defamatory, derisive and humiliating” caricature. 

“As village heads, we rely upon our spotlessly clean history when asking Leman magazine’s caricaturist and administrators to right their mistake by publishing a correction and issuing an apology,” Aykut told reporters. 

On the magazine’s March 30 cover, a village head, which the association claims to look like PKK leader Öcalan, is seen taking a selfie with Erdoğan while the latter says, “Come, village head, so that consuls general see how to take a proper selfie.”

The cover was released after Erdoğan slammed consuls general from various countries for attending the first hearing of the controversial trial of daily Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Can Dündar and Ankara bureau chief Erdem Gül on March 25 to show solidarity with the journalists, and taking a selfie together. 

Aykut also made a call to the president to take a selfie together.