Two columnists of Turkish leftist daily publish Charlie Hebdo’s cover
Turkish secularist Cumhuriyet daily has permitted two of its columnists to carry the cover of Charlie Hebdo's latest edition which features a new cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad. The move has fueled the already high tensions which have sparked hot debates all around the world, with many critics discussing whether the prophet's display is freedom of speech or offensive to people's beliefs.The first issue of the magazine since last week's bloody attack on its Paris headquarters, which killed 12 people, has been printed in Turkish, French and Italian while its digital version is available in English, Spanish and Arabic.The Turkish issue was published by daily Cumhuriyet on Wednesday, which, according to the statement posted on the daily's website, only allocated selective parts of the edition. Utku Çakırözer, the daily's editor-in-chief, has explained the basis of publishing the issue of the magazine as such: "As a daily who has lost many writers to terrorism, we emphasize with the pain of the massacre of those people at Charlie Hebdo. We condemned the attack on the freedom of speech to full extent and showed our support with the news we covered. As part of this solidarity, we carry four-page-long selection of [today's] issue of Charlie Hebdo."Çakırözer also highlights in his statement that Cumhuriyet has selected which parts of the edition to publish taking into consideration the religious sensitivities and freedom of beliefs.The statement further says that the cover of the issue, featuring a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad, was decided not to be published following numerous consultations. However, this explanation was proved contradictory as the daily permitted the cover to be published in the columns of two writers, Ceyda Karan and Hikmet Çetinkaya.Police have taken precautions in the area where the daily's headquarters are located, allegedly against possible attacks against the daily. Two nearby streets have been closed to traffic and riot police are lined in front of the building.Meanwhile, a few pro-Islamic students reportedly staged a protest outside the paper's office in Ankara denouncing its decision to print Charlie Hebdo cartoons.
Last Update: January 14, 2015 12:22