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Wild goats and protesting local officials in Dersim’s Salordek village. Date: December 7, 2020. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A group of local officials and activists gathered in Salordek village in Turkey’s Dersim (Tunceli) province on Monday to protest a recent government permit granted to a US businessman to hunt a local wild goat, sacred to many locals. The grant has reportedly been revoked.
Dersim mayor Fatih Mehmet Macoglu shared a document in a tweet on Monday which was issued by Tunceli’s Forestry Operation Directorate on December 3. It grants an American businessman, Bradley Garrett Van Hoose, an eight-day temporary hunting permit to hunt a wild goat in the mountains by Salordek village. The businessman was allowed to use a total of 50 bullets to kill the animal.
“Life in nature is priceless for us,” he said, adding that he and other local officials and friends would be waiting for the hunter in the village on Monday. They did gather on Monday when Van Hoose’s eight-day permission began, but the businessman did not show up.
Foreign tourists are permitted to hunt in Turkey, provided they receive government permission and pay a fee.
Polat Saroglu, a parliamentarian for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Tunceli, said in a tweet on Sunday that Tunceli governor Mehmet Ali Ozkan had told him that the hunting license had been dissolved.
Baris Yildirim, a lawyer in Dersim, who was one among Monday’s protesters, told Rudaw that the government will face legal action should it approve a similar decision in the future.
“We want to state that we definitely think that no wild animal, including wild goats and antlered animals, should be hunted,” said the lawyer.
“We want the wildlife in this region to be respected. We want the protection of mountain goats,” Mayor Macoglu said, reading a statement on behalf of the protesters at the event, describing the permission as a “cruel decision.”
The directorate of preserving nature and national parks had announced a tender in mid-July for the hunting of 17 wild goats in Dersim, but was suspended due to public anger.
“I want this hunting to be prohibited, these animals should not be killed,” Orhan Celebi, mayor of Dersim’s Akpazar (Peri in Kurdish) subdistrict told Rudaw at the protest.
Zaza Kurds, many of whom are Alevis, make up a big part of Dersim’s population. Their dialect of Kurdish is different from what most other Kurds use in the rest of Turkey. Alevis consider all living things, especially wild goats, sacred.
Dersim mayor Fatih Mehmet Macoglu shared a document in a tweet on Monday which was issued by Tunceli’s Forestry Operation Directorate on December 3. It grants an American businessman, Bradley Garrett Van Hoose, an eight-day temporary hunting permit to hunt a wild goat in the mountains by Salordek village. The businessman was allowed to use a total of 50 bullets to kill the animal.
“Life in nature is priceless for us,” he said, adding that he and other local officials and friends would be waiting for the hunter in the village on Monday. They did gather on Monday when Van Hoose’s eight-day permission began, but the businessman did not show up.
Foreign tourists are permitted to hunt in Turkey, provided they receive government permission and pay a fee.
Polat Saroglu, a parliamentarian for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Tunceli, said in a tweet on Sunday that Tunceli governor Mehmet Ali Ozkan had told him that the hunting license had been dissolved.
Baris Yildirim, a lawyer in Dersim, who was one among Monday’s protesters, told Rudaw that the government will face legal action should it approve a similar decision in the future.
“We want to state that we definitely think that no wild animal, including wild goats and antlered animals, should be hunted,” said the lawyer.
“We want the wildlife in this region to be respected. We want the protection of mountain goats,” Mayor Macoglu said, reading a statement on behalf of the protesters at the event, describing the permission as a “cruel decision.”
The directorate of preserving nature and national parks had announced a tender in mid-July for the hunting of 17 wild goats in Dersim, but was suspended due to public anger.
“I want this hunting to be prohibited, these animals should not be killed,” Orhan Celebi, mayor of Dersim’s Akpazar (Peri in Kurdish) subdistrict told Rudaw at the protest.
Zaza Kurds, many of whom are Alevis, make up a big part of Dersim’s population. Their dialect of Kurdish is different from what most other Kurds use in the rest of Turkey. Alevis consider all living things, especially wild goats, sacred.
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