A court in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak yesterday decided to acquit Ayhan Kiraz of the charge of defaming religion in relation to a cartoon he had drawn in response to a spat between the Education and Science Workers' Union (Eğitim-Sen) and the religious establishment in the district of Çaycuma.
Kiraz said he had been drawing mainly political cartoons in Zonguldak for 32 years, adding that his intention was solely to make criticism and not to assume an attitude against religion.
"We have turned into a country where everyone accuses everyone else of irreligiousity," he said.