Today I wont be the one writing the post. Instead I will let Bither Sabanoglu, who runs Let’s Adopt France, to give you a historical perspective one of of the landmark events in the sad history of the Turkish stray animals..
One cannot help but notice that the French have always held a special relationship with strays of Istanbul. The city of Istanbul, then called Constantinople, was the meeting point of numerous French expats, mostly artists and writers, in particular Chauteaubriand, Nerval, Flaubert, Gautier and Pierre Loti.
There was the muezzin, Bosphorus, the bazaars….and the stray dogs.
The stray dogs and cats, though an ordinary sight in Oriental countries, were mystified by the French into an exotic element of an Oriental city. The association of İstanbul with strays was so intrinsic that the famous postcard producer Max Fruchtermann had published a series of Istanbul views at the beginning of 20th century, including “the stray dog” as a touristic cliché in the cards.
By the end of the 19th century, Istanbul boasted of approx. 100.000 street cats and dogs. The French expressed their surprise at Turkish people’s continuous display of affection for these animals. Gautier, Nerval and Loti seldom fail to mention it in their essays. At times considered as eccentric inhabitants of the neighbourhood, at others, as volontary firemen who warn people by barking against this constant danger, the dogs were even protected by religious organizations that regularly fed them.
Nevertheless, as soon as the Young Turks took over the government, they, who considered themselves too “civilized” – to use a term that is employed at least once too often in the commentary section of this blog – and too Occidental to stoop to sharing the beautiful city of Istanbul with these ragged beasts, made it clear that they but saw sheer ignorance and an obscure superstition in the people’s affection for those dogs. So, they arranged the deportation of approx 80.000 dogs on Hayırsız island in the Marmara Sea.
It’s a French person again, who denounced the horrors of this death camp. A caricaturist, Sem, suspicious of the state’s replies to his questions about the dogs’ fate, sailed on a private boat for the island to investigate what is happening in reality. Appalled, outraged, he explains that those 80.000 dogs “were climbing on top of each other to reach the water, desperately trying to refresh their bodies burnt by the sun and fever. Some, almost dying of thirst, were making attempts to drink the salty water. Ashore, one just saw fierce groups of dogs that were ripping out corpses (…) Many had ears half-eaten. They were covered with hideous wounds which, kindled by the salt, left blood trails on the limpid water.”
One has to mention Catherine Pinguet as well, a writer who lives in İstanbul with her eight adopted cats. This French admirer of İstanbul describes the sad faith of these dogs in her latest book entitled The strays of İstanbul. Pinguet depicts in detail how İstanbul streets looked at the beginning of 20th century and concludes that the destitute people of İstanbul found a parallel to their situation in the lives of those poor animals.
Bither Sabanoglu
Bihter, thanks for the historical insight. Very interesting. I would like to add that part of being civilized is to respect people of all backgrounds and creatures of all kinds. Working together and collaborating with others to bring an end to suffering – be it human or animal – is also a mark of a truly great civilization. The Let's Adopt community is a great resource for Turkey, and I believe that the government must come to realize that the international attention focused on the group could bring the country a lot of respect and opportunities to build cultural bridges so long as the government is willing to work with the group to put an end to the suffering of the country's homeless animals.
Bihter, thanks for the historical insight. Very interesting. I would like to add that part of being civilized is to respect people of all backgrounds and creatures of all kinds. Working together and collaborating with others to bring an end to suffering – be it human or animal – is also a mark of a truly great civilization. The Let's Adopt community is a great resource for Turkey, and I believe that the government must come to realize that the international attention focused on the group could bring the country a lot of respect and opportunities to build cultural bridges so long as the government is willing to work with the group to put an end to the suffering of the country's homeless animals.
@julia, you are welcome I am very happy it interested you. I will try to do both too; raise awareness in Turkey and in France…we will need the support of people like you!