Campaign by life defenders: ‘Put a complete ban on hunting in Turkey’

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Click to read the article in Turkish

227 civil society organizations have launched a petition on change.org* to call for a complete ban on hunting across Turkey.

Underlining that "killing a living being cannot be a part of sports, tourism, hobby or tender," life defenders demand that the Law on Land Hunting be amended and renamed as the Law on Nature Protection and specialized courts of nature be established in the country.

'500 thousand people licensed for hunting in 16 years'

Announcing their petition to the public with a brief statement, life defenders have briefly stated the following:

"We are talking about other living beings, with whom we share life on this earth, they are our close and distant relatives. We stand up against the decisions of the Central Hunting Commission, which reduces our neighbors to mere numbers and quotas.

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Directorate General of Nature Protection and National Parks must take decisions to protect animals, rather than deciding on which individuals will be killed in what conditions and where. In the last 16 years, 17 thousand hunting courses have been opened and nearly 500 thousand people have been granted hunting licenses.

'Even endangered species are opened for hunting'

"The institutions responsible for protecting nature are, unfortunately, mere onlookers to the destruction of our nature by the weapons industry and hunters. And, more sadly, they promote this. In fact, as per the articles 6 and 8 of the Biological Diversity Convention, which it is a party to, Turkey has undertaken that it will protect endangered species.

"Nevertheless, by disregarding these provisions and the provisions of our country's legislation and other international conventions that Turkey is a party to, even some endangered species are being opened to hunting.

"It is unacceptable!

'It needs to be stopped as soon as possible'

"Moreover, with a clause added to the Article 15 of the bill that passed the Parliamentary Commission on Agriculture, Forestry and Village Affairs on July 1, it is approved by a majority of votes that a bylaw will regulate the hunting of animals by foreign diplomats and 'high ranking guests' free of charge if they wish and the hunting of animals such as bears and boars that come to residential areas as their living spaces have been damaged.

"These decisions that will destroy our nature before the eyes of all us need to be abandoned immediately. We demand that the Law on Land Hunting be urgently amended as the Law on Nature Protection and the specialized courts of nature be established.

'Our lives depend on one another'

"Now, it is time to be the voice of all living beings whose right to life and living spaces have been seized. Because it is non-negotiable that the right to life is the most natural right for all living beings.

"The lives of all of us depend on one another. We become the voice of all living beings who cannot defend their own rights in human language. Ban Hunting!" (TP/SD)

* Click here for the petition (in Turkish)