Permission for hunting mountain goats revoked amid public reaction

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Dersim MP Polat Şaroğlu has announced that the temporary permission granted to US businessperson Bradley Garett van Hoose for hunting mountain goats in Turkey's eastern province of Dersim has been revoked.

In a brief statement on Twitter, Şaroğlu has said that he spoke to Tunceli (Dersim) Governor Mehmet Ali Özkan and the temporary hunting permission granted to the businessperson has been cancelled.

Referring to the news that the Tunceli Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks permitted a businessperson from the US to hunt one mountain goat in Dersim, CHP's Şaroğlu has indicated that he talked to the Governor in response to these news.

According to the MP's tweet, Governor Özkan has said that the related permission has been revoked and, thus, the hunt will not take place.

Tunceli'deki 'Kişiye özel katliam' iptal edildi!

Son günlerde basında yer alan, Tunceli Doğa Koruma ve Milli Parklar Şube Müdürlüğü tarafından ABD'li bir iş insanına 1 adet dağ keçisi vurma izni verildiği yönündeki haberler üzerine Tunceli Valisi Sayın Mehmet Ali Özkan ile ++ pic.twitter.com/PwTIoqQTAy

— Polat ŞAROĞLU (@PolatSaroglu) December 6, 2020

Directorate: Unfounded news

The 15th Regional Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks has also announced that the news about mountain goat hunting is unfounded. Referring to the recent news and social media messages, the directorate has indicated that no such hunt for mountain goats will take place in the Saldörek state hunting ground in Dersim province, as alleged.

Message by the Mayor

Dersim Mayor Fatih Mehmet Maçoğlu previously made a brief statement about the hunt on his Twitter account.

"To us, a price tag cannot be put on any living being in nature," he said and made a "call to the person who would come to massacre the mountain goat with his precision weapon and 50 bullets": "Tomorrow, I will be waiting for you there, together with villagers and all sensitive friends..."

Tender cancelled in July

Most recently, the tender lodged by the Directorate General of Nature Conservation and National Parks for hunting mountain goats in Dersim was cancelled in July 2020 amid public outrage and reactions.

Numbers

* In a study conducted in a 18,955-decare area, it was found that the number of mountain goats increased from 1,317 in 2018 to 1,358 in 2019.

* In 2019, the number of mountain goats under protection in Çamardı district in Niğde has increased from 700 to 1,400 in 16 years.

* As for Gümüşhane, an inventory counting conducted in 2013-2014 showed that there were around 200 mountain goats in the province. While the goats were photographed in a rural part of the city nearly 20 kilometers off the city center, those who hunt the goats face a minimum fine of 22,660 Turkish Lira (~2,800 US Dollars). (TP/SD)