Even Our Animals "Cont."

Roj Bash...

Finally I could manage to start publishing again, sorry for not publishing anything lately, but actually I was somehow busy with work.

Meanwhile, I found something on the BBC site, that proves something very important, and directly related to our old post, about renaming and changing the scientific animals in the North Kurdistan, Turkish Kurdistan, here is the news , this news last updated on Tuesday, 8 March, 2005:

Turkey renames 'divisive' animal

Turkey has said it is changing the names of three animals found on its territory to remove references to Kurdistan or Armenia.

The environment ministry says the Latin names of the red fox, the wild sheep and the roe deer will be altered.

The red fox for instance, known as Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica, will now be known as Vulpes Vulpes. Turkey has uneasy relations with neighbouring Armenia and opposes Kurdish separatists in Turkey.

The ministry said the old names were contrary to Turkish unity.

"Unfortunately there are many other species in Turkey which were named this way with ill intentions. This ill intent is so obvious that even species only found in our country were given names against Turkey's unity," a ministry statement quoted by Reuters news agency said.

Some Turkish officials say the names are being used to argue that Armenians or Kurds had lived in the areas where the animals were found.

Name Changes:

Red fox known as Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica becomes Vulpes Vulpes.

Wild sheep called Ovis Armeniana becomes Ovis Orientalis Anatolicus.

Roe deer known as Capreolus Capreolus Armenus becomes Capreolus Cuprelus Capreolus.

Turkey has tense ties with its eastern neighbour Armenia, which it does not officially recognise.

Armenians accuse Turkey of genocide, saying 1.5 million of their people died or were deported from their homelands under Turkish Ottoman rule.

Turkey denies the genocide and says the death count is inflated.

For the last two decades, Turkey has also been fighting Kurdish separatists, who have sought an independent state in Turkey's south-east.

Thanks for BBC for publishing such interesting news.

Even Our Animals

I already knew, this is old news, but I am sure it still going on in Turkey to the current time...

On Mar 4, 2005, Reuters published a news, it was like this:

"ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has renamed some animal species, saying foreign scientists opposed to its territorial integrity had chosen their former names with ill intent, the Environment Ministry has said."

A sheep species previously known as Ovis Armeniana was renamed Ovis Orientalis Anatolicus. A species of red fox (found in the country's Kurdish area) was renamed as Vulpes Vulpes rather than Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanica.

"Unfortunately there are many other species in Turkey which were named this way with ill intentions. This ill intent is so obvious that even species only found in our country were given names against Turkey's unity," the statement said.”

Not only renaming animal species, but even they tried (and they did of course, not only trying) to kill some species, just because these animal species are related, in this or another way, to Kurdish Culture...

Turkey accused by one of the International Organizations over killing Cats living around Lake Van in North Kurdistan, just because this Cats, related to Kurdish presence in North Kurdistan, read:

“Are Van cats becoming pawns in the politics of eastern Turkey?
Last October, a German animal welfare group issued a report stating Vans were being killed for political purposes throughout the region. Turkish officials vehemently denied the account.

The Duesseldorf group, called SOS Van Cats Rescue Action, charged that Turkish soldiers were killing Vans because of the breeds' association with the Kurds and Kurdish culture. The Kurds of eastern Turkey, including the Lake Van region, have long sought independence from Turkey, and until recently separatist Kurdish rebels in the region waged a 15-year battle with the Turkish army.

"The Turkish state wants to wipe out everything that symbolizes Kurdish culture," said Florian Cremer, a spokesperson for the group. "The cats are Kurdish, and Turkish authorities are unable to digest this."

Although no one is denying the Turks have violently repressed the Kurds, Turkish officials insist there's no effort to exterminate the Vans.

"That the Turkish army would be able to find 200 Van cats, let alone poison them, is utter nonsense," said Zahit Agaoglu, a university professor who is running a state-sponsored program to restore the breed.

He said the main problem was finding sufficient funds to feed the Vans, not protecting them from the Turkish army. "Instead of making fantastic statements, it would be nice if the Germans sent us some cat food," he said.

Just one question, how sick these Turkish are ....?!!