With US President Barack Obama, they focus on his ears. For UK Prime Minister David Cameron, it’s his cheeks; French President Francois Hollande, his stature. And for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the cartoonists go for the downturned mouth, a jowly look that Penguen, arguably Turkey’s most famous cartoon magazine, loves to play on.
“He provides us with plenty of material,” admits Selcuk Erdem, one of Penguen’s editors, scribbling an image of Mr Erdogan in seconds.
The problem is that Turkey’s president isn’t laughing.
Under Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 12 years in office – first as prime minister, now as president – Penguen has been sued a number of times, including by Mr Erdogan himself for portraying him as different animals.
The latest case came over a recent front cover.
The president is depicted in front of his new, controversially extravagant palace.
“We could at least have sacrificed a journalist for the inauguration,” says Mr Erdogan, with connotations of an Islamic ritual.
The man welcoming him is shown buttoning a suit jacket with a gesture that was deemed to suggest Mr Erdogan is homosexual.
A complaint was filed with the prosecutor, backed up by Mr Erdogan’s lawyers, on the basis of “insulting the president”.
The two Penguen cartoonists were sentenced to 14 months in prison.
It was reduced to 11 months for “good conduct” and then commuted to a fine of 14,000 Turkish lira ($5,350; £3,630).
‘No sense of humour’
“We were very sorry – sad actually,” says Selcuk Erdem, “not as cartoonists but as citizens, because someone going to court due to a cartoon is a very sad thing.”
He insists that the gesture was misinterpreted and that his liberal publication would never joke about sexuality.
Mr Erdogan and his government “don’t have a sense of humour”, says Mr Erdem.
“They don’t want – or like – freedom of speech or criticism. We’ll carry on drawing cartoons. We don’t insult anyone – and worrying about court cases will lead to censorship in your mind, which is something we don’t want.”
Turkey’s hard line on insults:
- Between August 2014 and March 2015, 236 people investigated for “insulting the head of state”; 105 indicted; eight formally arrested
- Between July and December 2014 (Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s presidency), Turkey filed 477 requests to Twitter for removal of content, over five times more than any other country and an increase of 156% on the first half of the year
- Reporters Without Borders places Turkey 149th of 180 countries in the press freedom index
- During Mr Erdogan’s time in office (Prime Minister 2003-14, President from 2014), 63 journalists have been sentenced to a total of 32 years in prison, with collective fines of $128,000
- Article 299 of the Turkish penal code states that anybody who insults the president of the republic can face a prison term of up to four years. This sentence can be increased by a sixth if committed publicly; and a third if committed by press or media.
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