Arrested for Drawing

Hi Global Recap readers,

Lately, some stories really make you stop and think about what Freedom of Expression means, and whether society should accept any limits on it.

• There’s, of course, the well-known case of the British punk-rap group Bob Vylan chanting "Death to the IDF" at Glastonbury Festival in the UK.

• And just today, the Turkish government announced arrests of more news outlet employees who allegedly published a drawing of the Prophet Mohammad.

More on that in today’s Deep Dive, so you can decide whether it really is the Prophet.

🌐 WORLD
Fast Scroll News

🇷🇺 Putin, Macron Reconnect. Putin and Macron just spoke for two hours for the first time since 2022, trading views on Iran and Ukraine.

• On Ukraine: Macron pushed for an immediate ceasefire and updated Zelenskyy and Trump before and after the call.

• Putin insisted any peace deal must reflect “new territorial realities” and repeated his usual blame-the-West playbook.

• On Iran: Macron called for full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) while Putin defended Tehran’s nuclear rights under the treaty.

🇺🇸 Trump Threatens Musk Deportation. Trump and Musk just went scorched earth again. After Musk slammed Trump’s freshly passed One Big Beautiful Bill as a bloated waste of money and teased the idea of launching a third political party, Trump wasted no time firing back:

• On Tuesday, Trump hinted he might cut federal subsidies/contracts for Musk’s companies.

• He also said that he could “look into” deporting him.

• He even floated unleashing DOGE on Musk.

🇮🇱 Israel Backs Ceasefire Plan. Trump said Tuesday that Israel has agreed to “necessary conditions” for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire deal, adding that Qatar and Egypt will deliver the final proposal.

• He warned Hamas that the offer “will not get better,” but so far, there’s no response from them.

• The Israeli Embassy stayed silent, and Netanyahu is set to visit the White House next week.

🇬🇧 Starmer Survives Welfare Revolt. UK PM Keir Starmer just scraped through a 335–260 vote after over 120 Labour MPs nearly killed his welfare reform bill.

• The bill, meant to tighten disability benefit rules and cut costs, sparked backlash even after Starmer watered it down to only affect new claimants.

• That compromise slashed expected savings from £4.8 billion to £2 billion.

• Yet, he was forced to postpone key parts of the policy for review and still saw a big chunk of his own party turn against him.

• It’s his biggest internal revolt yet, and it came exactly one year after Labour’s landslide victory.

🇵🇱 Poland Reinstates Border Checks. Poland just announced it’ll temporarily bring back border controls with Germany and Lithuania starting Monday, blaming Berlin for "rerouting" asylum seekers.

• Polish PM Tusk said Germany’s tougher migration stance is “effectively refusing entry” and pushing the problem east, warning that Poland’s “patient stance” has run out.

• Tensions are running high after far-right groups staged border protests and Germany’s new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, doubled down on hardline immigration policy.

🇹🇷 TURKEY
Satire Sparks Arrests

A cartoon in a Turkish magazine triggered outrage and arrests, as the government claims it insulted Islam, while the editors say it was misinterpreted.

• But the thing is, Turkey is "technically" a secular republic according to its constitution.

• So what legal grounds does the government actually have here?

How It Started

The satirical weekly LeMan published a drawing that touched a raw nerve.

• The cartoon showed winged figures “interpreted by some” as Prophets Muhammad and Moses, shaking hands above a war-torn landscape.

  • A winged figure on the left greets with, "Selamün aleyküm, ben Muhammed!"—which means, "Peace be upon you, I'm Muhammad."

  • A winged figure on the right says, "Aleyhem şalom, ben de Musa..."—which means, "Peace be upon you too, I'm Moses." "Aleyhem şalom" here is a Turkish rendering of the Hebrew greeting "Shalom aleichem."

• However, LeMan claimed the figure was a generic Muslim man named Muhammad and intended to highlight Muslim suffering.

• The image quickly drew government criticism and protests outside LeMan’s Istanbul office.

Legal?

Constitution:

Turkey is officially a secular republic under its constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression and religion.

• Article 2 of the Constitution: “The Republic of Turkey is a democratic, secular and social state governed by rule of law…”

• Article 26 of the Constitution: “Everyone has the right to express and disseminate his/her thoughts and opinions by speech, in writing or in pictures or through other media…”

Penal Code:

• But in practice, blasphemy and religious insult laws are still enforced, especially under Article 216 of the penal code, which criminalizes a person "who publicly degrades the religious values of a section of the public" (Section 3).

• The US views it as a "functional blasphemy law."

Police Crack Down

The Turkish state didn’t wait long to act. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya posted arrest clips online (the videos at the start of the story), including scenes of Pehlevan and Yavuz being handcuffed at home.

• Authorities detained Dogan Pehlevan (cartoonist), from his home on charges of “publicly insulting religious values.”

• By Tuesday, three more LeMan staffers were arrested:

  • Zafer Aknar (Editor-in-Chief)

  • Cebrail Okcu (graphic designer)

  • Ali Yavuz (manager)

• Two editors reportedly remain abroad, with warrants issued for them too.

Protest Turns Violent

Public anger spilled into the streets Monday night.

• Protesters, reportedly from an Islamic group, threw rocks at LeMan’s Istanbul office and clashed with riot police.

• Some demonstrators were seen praying outside the building before tensions escalated.

• Thankfully, there were no reports of major injuries.

Magazine Responds

Facing arrests and backlash, LeMan tried to explain without backing down.

• The magazine issued an apology “for any offense caused” but stood by its claim that the cartoon was misinterpreted.

• It called for authorities to investigate what it saw as a smear campaign and “protect freedom of expression.”