The killing fields of Beykoz!!!

Update from Beykoz.

Yesterday the Beykoz Shelter received the unexpected visit of two inspectors representing a large community of concerned individuals.

Their findings please us to no end.

1. The dogs are being fed and watered.

2. There are no indications of new killings or of mass deportations to the forests (usual practice by İstanbul municipalities).

3. The previously hostile security team and the shelter veterinarian were polite and corteous bordering on the obsequious.

Make no mistake, Muharrem Ergul is not changing strategy willingly. This sudden change in attitude is happening thanks to YOU.

Changes are happening because of the coordinated pressure of thousands of people that have decided that enough is enough.

Here are some of the actions that have taken place lately:

- Massive email that has led into the municipality servers collapse.

- Hundreds of stelephone calls

- Volunteer visits both to the Municipality and the shelter

- Visits by diplomatic envoys in Turkey. To this add a visit by our New York representative, Marijo Gillis (WAGNY) to the Turkish consul and the dispatch of a full report to Ambassador Sensoy in Washington.

- Demonstrations, both locally and internationally. The involvement of PETA Germany has been instrumental in coordinating pressure in a country where we have many, many, many friends. Thank you PETA.

- Media pressure. All major networks have repitedly reported on the dramatic situation at the shelter. The media onslaught has been continuous, forcing Ergul to assign a special team to deal with Public Relations. Unfortunately (for them) that team has proven to be a sham and has done nothing but contribute to create the biggest embarrassment in Mr. Erguls career. Advice to the Mayor: fire them all.

Our group has gone as far as producing a short advertisement showcasing the massacre to the world and the lies of the people responsible. This spot is available here:

- Legal action. No less than forty different legal complaints were presented in front of the public prosecutor in Beykoz. To this we must add the Court Case started by ourselves against the Mayor for misuse of authority.

The change has been sudden. A couple of days ago our friend Yasemin Baban went to the shelter for inspection, she carried a doccument with her. She was abruptly stopped at the door. The orders from the Municipality were clear.. Yasemin Baban, Berrin Olcay and that horrible foreign man (yours truly) would NEVER be allowed at the shelter. What the security guards didnt know was that the doccument was an order from the judge requesting the jandarma to take a statement from the security people and disclose who was the person who gave the order to stop our entry into the shelter.

It only took a telephone call to the Jandarmerie and not only the doors of the shelter were flung wide open but the two members of the security team were brought to the Jandarma headquarters for questioning…

Thank you very much Yasemin… were the last words uttered by the security guard before being scorted for interrogation.

I guess well meet this gentleman in court soon.. him and his bosses.

Once again… this changes are happening because of YOU. Our role is just one of coordination, thats all.

Although we welcome this sudden change we must not declare victory yet. From this forum we ask you to:

- Continue the email and telephone pressure to the Mayor of Beykoz. The email of his second in command has collapsed but keep on emailing him as well.

- Under no circumstance should any volonteer group or institution offer financial help to the Beykoz Municipality. This money would certainly not reach the end user (Perla, Tyson, Pamuk… the dogs!) and this would be used by the Municipality as an indication of support by animal lovers. Any financial assistance would be a legitimation of the killings. Save that money… soon it will be needed.

-Visit the Beykoz Shelter. Visit them at any time. İnitially they stablished a narrrow gap for visits of one hour during the day.. this became two hours later. The news is that it is illegal to restrict the entry into the shelter at any moment in time so please.. visit Beykoz any time you want. They must allow you in, if they dont just call the jandarma.

We will be visiting Beykoz tomorrow morning. Please join us. Make this another massive visit.

Mr. Ergul, this situation will only end the moment İhsan Öksüz and Ayzer Buyuker are dismissed and replaced by someone accepted by all parties. Furthermore and to avoid a repeat of this massacre in the future we demand the signature of a binding protocole of commitment to the correct implementation of Neuter and Return in the Beykoz Municipality.

Finally, the Municipality will have to issue an apology for the slander and lies against Yasemin Baban and Berrin Olcay.

Those are conditio sine qua non for the current situation to end.

A couple of weeks ago İhsan Öksüz stated: We will NEVER allow Berrin Olcay into the Beykoz Shelter again.

NEVER SAY NEVER….

Please keep on the pressure.