Turkish actress Tuna Arman has started a sit-in protest on busy İstiklal Avenue, collecting signatures from passersby to demand that animal abuse be reclassified as a criminal offense rather than a misdemeanor.
The television and theater actress, who initiated her animal-rights action Aug. 15, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that she aims to raise awareness about violence against animals, saying this would benefit not only dogs and cats but human society as well.
“Under the current law, if someone kills an animal, she or he is fined 300 Turkish Liras at the most,” Arman said. “More strikingly, there is discrimination between a street animal and an animal that has an owner. Because abusing an animal that has an owner is seen as damage to property.”
Noting that she plans to send the signatures she gathers demanding a change in the Turkish Criminal Code to the Justice Ministry and the Prime Ministry, the actress told the Daily News that deterrent punishments should be applied to people who abuse animals, the same way they are used to try and prevent murders, rapes and other offences in the community.
Under the current animal Law No. 5199, a person who abuses or rapes a stray animal receives a fine of 300 liras and the case is not investigated as a judicial case, said lawyer Deniz Tavşancıl Kalafatoğlu, vice president of the Istanbul Bar Association’s Istanbul Animal Rights Commission. Hurting a pet animal in the same way, however, could incur a sentence of four months to three years imprisonment, she said, noting that it is considered damage to the owner’s property under the Turkish Criminal Code.
“We want all these cases [including those dealing with street animals] to be investigated within the Turkish Criminal Code,” Kalafatoğlu told the Daily News, noting that the current animal law, part of the law on misdemeanors, entered into force in 2004 as one of the reforms Turkey carried out as part of its candidacy for European Union membership.
“Since 2004, there have been several attempts to bring the animal law under the Turkish Criminal Code, but all these offers have been rejected by the authorities on the grounds that courts are already busy with other cases,” said Arman, who owns four dogs and four cats.
The actress said her sit-in on İstiklal is the first time in her life she has actively participated in a protest and that she embarked on it because she could not stand the cruelties inflicted on animals.
To date, she has collected 15,000 signatures in Istanbul. Volunteers in 11 other provinces, including foreign visitors, have also been holding sit-ins and collecting signatures as well. Their protests will last until Oct. 4, World Animal Day.
“It has been scientifically proven that people who abuse animals are more likely to abuse children as well,” Arman said, explaining why she believes that defending animal rights is equal to defending human rights and the safety of society. “If there is someone in your district who has raped an animal, your children are not safe. I do not want to live in the same community with these deviants.”
Claiming that the sexual abuse of animals is ignored by the media, she said: “My purpose was to make people know about these cases. People are unaware of the abuses that animals are exposed to. These events are covered up.”
Arman added that she felt disgusted by the reactions of some passersby. “There were people who said it was a matter of sexual preference and wanted us to not deprive them of these animals, as animals are the only ones left to them.”
The actress believes children should be taught at a young age, starting in primary school, to love animals and protect them. She expressed her disappointment that mothers are too busy planning their children’s careers to teach them a love for animals.
Yonca Evcimik, a famous Turkish singer who has 10 dogs and a cat, came to the Taksim Square area Thursday to support Arman’s protest. “If we look from a broad perspective, we can see the root of our struggle is to lead a life that is more humane. In order to protect the community, you have to protect animals first,” Evcimik told the Daily News, adding that all living creatures have as much right to live as people do
