Why are there so many cats in Turkey (11 photos)

There are 7 million cats in Turkey. Istanbul was even renamed Katstantinople on the sly. Unofficially, of course. In this city alone, statistics recorded about 140 thousand street fluffies. In Ankara there are about 120 thousand of them.





They even say that in the famous Turkish resort of Antalya, for every 1.5 million human residents, there are no less than 1.3 million cat residents.

Wow statistics, huh?

To those who chuckled skeptically now, I will say as an eyewitness: cats are here and, in fact, everywhere.

As soon as you get to Turkey on a trip, on a business visit or for personal problems, in any case, you immediately notice that the area is simply teeming with tailed charmers.



All of them, of course, are homeless.

Moreover, the charm of these creatures leads to the fact that they can change their status to domestic ones. But, alas, not every time this status remains with the cat forever.

So, one resident of Alanya I accidentally met told a story about one special handsome man.





He once lived in Antalya. Due to its stunning attractiveness, it has gained popularity among all locals and tourists. And then one day a van with goodies (or what is there for cats - with mice?..) turned over on his street: an aboriginal woman took him to live at her home.

But after a while, the cat began to behave badly at home (after all, a cat with homeless experience is so accustomed to freedom that living in an apartment, even a large one, is uncomfortable and sometimes painful for him). For this, she decided to return him to homeless status.



To the credit of that woman, it must be said that she didn’t just throw him out into the street. She transported him from Antalya to Alanya with its attraction - the famous Cleopatra Beach, which has a special park, quite officially called the Cat Park.

This place was organized quite officially for cats. There are a huge number of fluffies living here, and, apparently, they get along well with each other and with people.

People simply adore them. They build play areas and resting houses for cats – kedi evi. They even installed special food dispensers everywhere. There you can buy cat food for a small fee and feed them. At the same time, they also organized (and quite cleverly, judge for yourself from the photo below...) special points for dogs, with which locals and visitors walk.



Judging by the fact that the food sometimes even lies “unattended” on the ground, the cats here are not just fed, but literally overfed. They look the part - I personally haven’t noticed a single skinny cat in Turkey.

And in addition to such food, they also catch mice.

Again, to the credit of representatives of local authorities this time, they carefully protect stray cats.

Among other things, posters were hung everywhere asking people not to feed them anything. On one of them, even for greater persuasiveness, they added several photos of cats that were fed with anything, because of which, alas, they did not survive...



So, foods prohibited for cats include everything fatty and sweet.

In general, these charming girls not only walk around squares and parks. They are almost everywhere here. Together with tourists they explore Turkish sights. Together with local residents, they control their farming in the fields and vegetable gardens. Together with officials, they keep vigil in post offices and various offices.

Sometimes, even if you don’t see cats somewhere, they are still there. You just need to look a little more closely. Try to find cats in the pictures in this gallery:



But how these charming homeless creatures miss the warmth and affection of home! Many aborigines and tourists are simply followed by “all cats, all cats and all kittens.” They meow invitingly, purr affectionately and generally behave like the most charming and attractive creatures on Earth - if only they would be loved and, perhaps, even sheltered...

So, while I was exploring Alanya from the highest point (I Love Alanya observation deck at an altitude of 450 meters), one lovely three-flower was running after me. But what comforting could I say to her? “Sunny, I’ll take you with me, did we fly together on the plane?” Alas... I just wished her cat happiness - on behalf of me and my own pet.

So why do Turks value cats so much? Why are there so many cats on the streets in Turkey?

There are at least 5 reasons for this.



1. Testament from the Prophet Muhammad

There is a legend that a cat once saved Islam’s most beloved prophet, Muhammad.

It is believed that he even began to consider these animals sacred. Not like in Egypt, but, so to speak, with a local twist. Cats are still not even prohibited from entering mosques, and this is a very great honor.

If you believe the legend, the prophet not only welcomed these animals in every possible way, but was also afraid of offending them, even just briefly.

For example, if a cat fell asleep on his lap (and pet owners know that they love to do this), Muhammad cut off a piece of his clothing on which the tailed cutie was sleeping, so as not to inadvertently wake him up.

Moreover, Muhammad forbade cats to be sold or exchanged for anything. And he personally did not disdain to wash his face with the water that cats drank.

2. Good tradition

So, the Prophet Muhammad argued that loving cats is part of faith. This covenant is still followed in Turkey.

Many local residents even believe that the animal souls of cats will certainly go to Heaven, and therefore it is necessary to appease them in earthly life so that they “put in a good word” in the next world.

Muslims call them “kedi” and sometimes consider them to be Allah’s helpers and “eyes” in this world.

3. Cats are city nurses

Religious tradition is intertwined with the social functions of cats. Yes Yes exactly.

After all, these fluffies not only decorate the streets and make people smile, but also clean their places of residence from harmful rodents.

So, another legend says that in the 8th century. cats saved a Turkish city from the plague by killing all the rats, which, as is known, are the main carriers of any “evil spirits”.

Cats still perform the same function today.

These fluffies themselves do not carry anything contagious on themselves (which is confirmed by official data).

4. Tourist attraction

Both homegrown and high-flying marketing agree: animals are always cute, and therefore attractive to customers.

As a result, many owners of shops, cafes and other establishments in cities with tourist flows are trying to get some charming girls.

After all, “under the sad moo, under the cheerful growl, under the friendly neighing,” customers become kinder and more generous. For example, I once met such attractive comrades in cafes in Cyprus and Spain:



And cats in Turkey certainly attract tourists. The visitor admired the local cat, the wanderer stroked the affectionate kitten, the tourist listened to the purring of the businesslike but defenseless cat - and softened... and bought food for the cat... and on the general positive wave, he also bought something for himself... and, finally softening, left a big tip...

I say this in no way to offend, but purely to smile kindly.

5. Cats in the land of fishermen

However, this logic is suitable for many countries where there is at least one sea.



All pictures in the gallery were taken by the author of the post at one point (around and near the person who caught the fish)

They say on the Internet that a couple of years ago in Turkey they wanted to pass a law to reduce the number of stray cats: people were afraid that they still carried some kind of infection. But the residents of Istanbul staged a protest (as already said, it has been officially confirmed that everything is fine with cats in this regard in Turkey), and the law was not adopted!