Turkish police arrested at least four cartoonists on Monday accused of drawing and distributing a cartoon that authorities and protesters say is a depiction of the Prophet Mohammed and Moses.

The cartoon, published in a political satire magazine, shows what appears to be a Muslim and a Jewish man, both with wings and halos, shaking hands and greeting each other as bombs fall below.

The cartoon went viral on social media four days after it was published. Hundreds of people took to Istanbul’s main tourist street, chanting “Allah is Great” and calling for sharia law in protest. Turkish authorities quickly condemned the magazine.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya called the cartoon a provocation and said those “who dare to do this will be held accountable before the law.” Yerlikaya said the cartoon was not protected by freedom of expression or freedom of speech.

Fahrettin Altun, the head communications for the Turkish Presidency, called it a “vile attack on our beliefs and values.”

The country’s Justice Ministry announced an investigation had been launched into the incident under Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code for the crime of “publicly insulting religious values.”

LeMan, the weekly political satire magazine known for irreverent comics similar to French Charlie Hebdo, released a statement saying their cartoon was not depicting the Islamic prophet.

“This cartoon is not a caricature of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh). In the work, the name Mohammed is fictionalized as belonging to a Muslim person killed in Israel’s bombardments. There are more than 200 million people named Mohammed in the Islamic world. The work does not refer to the Prophet Mohammed in any way,” the magazine said.

“By highlighting a murdered Muslim, the aim was to highlight the righteousness of the oppressed Muslim people, with no intention whatsoever of belittling religious values. We reject the stigma imposed on us, as there is no depiction of our Prophet,” LeMan said.

“To interpret the cartoon in such a way requires extreme malice,” the magazine added, but also offered an apology to any readers who may have been offended.

As protesters took to the streets, the Interior Ministry released videos of cartoonists being detained in their homes, barefoot and handcuffed by police with captions such as “You will not escape from our security forces or from justice.”

Protesters were seen kicking the doors of the magazine offices in central Istanbul. In one video a demonstrator shouts, “For our Prophet, we would give our lives and take lives; no one can insult our Prophet.”

The crowd also performed a nighttime prayer. Within hours, Istanbul’s governor Davut Gul announced that all four people who were wanted for the cartoon were in police custody.

Gul did not say if any demonstrators were detained but said in a statement, “It has been determined that some individuals mingling among the protesters have engaged in provocative actions. It is of great importance that the protesting groups disperse to prevent harm to our citizens and to maintain public order.”

Some groups have called for further protests against the magazine on Tuesday.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Thailand’s embattled prime minister was suspended from duty Tuesday and could face dismissal pending an ethics probe over a leaked phone call she had with Cambodia’s powerful former leader.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 38, has only held the premiership for 10 months after replacing her predecessor, who was removed from office. Her suspension brings fresh uncertainty to the Southeast Asian kingdom, which has been roiled by years of political turbulence and leadership shake-ups.

Thailand’s Constitutional Court accepted a petition brought by a group of 36 senators who accused Paetongtarn of violating the constitution for breaching ethical standards in the leaked call, which was confirmed as authentic by both sides.

The court voted to suspend Paetongtarn from her prime ministerial duties until it reaches a verdict in the ethics case. Paetongtarn will remain in the Cabinet as culture minister following a reshuffle.

Paetongtarn has faced increasing calls to resign, with anti-government protesters taking to the streets of the capital Bangkok on Saturday, after the leaked call with Cambodia’s Hun Sen over an escalating border dispute sparked widespread anger in the country.

The scandal prompted the Bhumjaithai party, a major partner of the prime minister’s government, to withdraw from the coalition last week, dealing a major blow to her Pheu Thai party’s ability to hold power. Paetongtarn is also contending with plummeting approvals ratings and faces a no-confidence vote in parliament.

In the leaked call, which took place on June 15, Paetongtarn could be heard calling former Cambodian strongman Hun Sen “uncle” and appeared to criticize her own army’s actions after border clashes led to the death of a Cambodian soldier last month.

The Thai prime minister could be heard telling Hun Sen that she was under domestic pressure and urged him not to listen to the “opposite side,” in which she referred to an outspoken Thai army commander in Thailand’s northeast.

She also added that if Hun Sen “wants anything, he can just tell me, and I will take care of it.”

Her comments in the leaked audio struck a nerve in Thailand, and opponents accused her of compromising the country’s national interests.

Following the ruling, Paetongtarn said she accepts the court’s decision and that her intention “was truly to act for the good of the country.”

“I want to make it clear that my intentions were more than 100% sincere — I acted for the country, to protect our sovereignty, to safeguard the lives of our soldiers, and to preserve peace in our nation,” she said in a press conference Tuesday.

“I also want to apologize to all my fellow Thais who may feel uneasy or upset about this matter,” she added.

Thailand and Cambodia have had a complicated relationship of both cooperation and rivalry in recent decades. The two countries share a 508-mile (817-kilometer) land border – largely mapped by the French while they occupied Cambodia – that has periodically seen military clashes and been the source of political tensions.

In the wake of the scandal, Paetongtarn tried to downplay her remarks to Hun Sen, saying at a press conference she was trying to diffuse tensions between the two neighbors and the “private” call “shouldn’t have been made public.”

The prime minister said she was using a “negotiation tactic” and her comments were “not a statement of allegiance.”

Paetongtarn became prime minister last year after the Constitutional Court ruled that her predecessor Srettha Thavisin had breached ethics rules and voted to dismiss him as prime minister.

The same court also dissolved the country’s popular progressive Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the 2023 election, and banned its leaders from politics for 10 years.