Erdogan, who was the prime minister at the time, sued Kart over this cartoon (left). In solidarity, Kart’s colleagues at the Penguen review published an issue portraying Erdogan as different animals [on the right]. Erdogan then filed a complaint against each of them… but forgot to include the little penguin at the top.



It’s pretty clear that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan doesn’t like cartoonists. In 2005, a cartoonist at the opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet named Musa Kart was taken to court and ultimately fined 5,000 Turkish pounds (equivalent to roughly €2,300) after he portrayed Erdogan as a cat. In 2016, Kart and his colleagues at Cumhuriyet were accused of assisting terrorist groups. Kart was detained for nine months before being released on July 29.Against a backdrop of growing curtailment of freedom of expression within Turkey, this small but dedicated group of cartoonists continue to call out the government for its abuses and celebrate the few movements of resistance. The FRANCE 24 Observers spoke with three young cartoonists, each with his or her own distinctive style, about the anxieties and hopes that come part and parcel with this profession under threat.