On June 16, 2019 a coalition of vegan activist groups comes together with an anti horse-drawn carriage campaign featuring flat-panels and blank masks on a sunny and crowded summer Sunday afternoon in front of the ferry pier of Kadikoy, Istanbul.
It is June. It is hot. It is humid. But according to the coalition, nothing compares to the unethical reality of the horses enslaved for tourism and transportation purposes mainly on the Princes Islands of Istanbul (Adalar) and other parts of Turkey.
Among the participants, the prominent journalist, author and vegan animal liberation activist Zülal Kalkandelen, in the coalition's public statement said "horse-drawn carriages must be abolished and nature-friendly solutions must be implemented for transportation on the islands of Istanbul and other parts of Turkey where horses are used for carriage purposes, and to think that we have the right to exploit other animals just because we are human is a result of sickness which is called 'speciesism'."
"Taken captive by the tourism sector, in the name of so-called 'nostalgia'; these horses are forced to pull carriages full of people, nonstop, in the uphill streets of the island, under broiling summer sun with so little food and water to survive on. They are being used as if they were machines, which can easily be observed through their skeletal figures and exhausted eyes. 400 horses are estimated to have died every summer under this slavery. The sea floor is full of their dead bodies. And when high season is over, they are simply tossed aside, because it is less costly to replace them with new ones from all over Turkey at the beginning of summer, than to feed them during low season. The mechanization of animals who are conscious living beings just like people is the biggest shame of human history. We are animal freedom activists who defend that people mustn't have right of initiative on animals who are conscious and sentient living beings." she continued.
During the demonstration, which lasted about two hours, the activists, wearing white blank masks while holding laptops and placards that showed graphic images of exploited horses on the Princes Islands of Istanbul, demanded abolishment of the horse-drawn carriages. Drawing a lot of attention by the public, the group members also handed out leaflets to passers-by and explained to them the reasons for the demonstration.
For quite some time, many animal rights groups in Turkey have been organizing various protests against the horse-drawn carriages. All of these groups, without a sign of hesitation, agree that the horses must be liberated from their slave status, and the necessary measures must be taken to ensure that the horses live in places for the rest of their lives where the animals will not be used, and they demand that this sector be abolished once and for all.
Just a week before the city is set to hold a repeat of the municipal election, the activists also called out to the Istanbul mayoral candidates and reminded them that it is the sole legal authority of the metropolitan municipality to solve this problem.
The anti horse-drawn carriages coalition has been formed by "The Independent Animal Rights Society" (Bağımsız Hayvan Hakları Topluluğu), "Animal Liberation Initiation" (Hayvan Özgürlügü İnisiyatifi), "Istanbul Vegan Initiation" (İstanbul Vegan İnisiyatifi), and "Solidarity with Animals Initiation" (Hayvanlarla Dayanışma İnisiyatifi).
The demonstration ended after the following press statement:
HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES ARE CRUEL AND THEY MUST STOP NOW!
Cube of truth action, that is seen here today, is for the horses who are tortured and died on coaches all over the country in Prince Islands of İstanbul, İzmir, Bolu and Edirne.
This action is to announce the voices of horses who die in pain.
This action is to expose the truth about violence towards horses.
This action is to declare the screams of horses whose backs got whipped.
This action is against people who continue horse-drawn coach so that,
Some people could earn money,
Some people find that cruelty fun,
Some people defend it because it is a tradition.
We as activists shout out that animals are not property, slave or object.
We try to express that 400 coach horse die with torture each year only in Prince Islands, coaches are used as killing machines,
We declare that died coach horses are thrown to sea as worthless objects, the horses who fall to the ground because of tiredness are beaten, horses whose bodies are wiped out because of carrying too much load end their lives in slaughterhouses.
Horses, who symbolize freedom, power and friendship in human imagery, are used in coaches and horse-drawn carriages - as slaves and are forced to pull not only the carriages but also the load and people who pile in carriages.
The horses are used as machines in boiling hot summer, in chilling cold winter, under rain and wind, day and night.
The mechanization of animals who are conscious living beings just like people is the biggest shame of human history.
To think that we have the right to exploit other animals just because we are human is a result of sickness which is called ‘speciesism’.
Do you remember what happened on the first day of this year?
On the first day of 2019, a fire broke out on barns in which coach horses stayed in Büyükada.
9 horses according to official information, 12 horses according to information from Büyükada burnt to death.
The tragedy took small part on newspaper. The press gave a headline as ‘they perished’ again ignoring that died horses are also conscious sentient living beings.
The head of Coachmen Chamber spoke to TV saying ‘We have great pain and loss.’ As it is said, coachmen in Prince Islands, who doesn’t have construction plan, built scratchy barns within their limits, so they are in a tight corner, too.
The owners of dead horses said ‘They were all our children’. Does a person exploit a living being called ‘my child’ murderously? or ride the child on a coach and make the child carry load while whipping?
It is not right to earn money by systematic cruelty to sentient living beings. When a human’s child is dead, he doesn’t talk about the size of his lost, he can’t.
We are animal freedom activists who defend that people mustn’t have right of initiative on animals who are conscious and sentient living beings.
Enslaved by the tourism sector, in the name of so-called ‘nostalgia’; these horses are forced to pull carriages full of people, nonstop, in the uphill streets of the island, under broiling summer sun with so little food and water to survive on. And in winter, they are simply tossed aside…
One can only see their pain and desperation by looking into their exhausted eyes.
We demand an end to this exploitation and freedom for all horses, either in Turkey or elsewhere on earth.
We don’t want any whips landing on horses’ backs any more.
We demand this unjust bloody sector be abolished once and for all.
We demand liberation not betterment. Betterment is not a acceptable suggestion. Because horse-drawn carriages mean slavery for horses. For the freedom of horses, coaches must end all and the horses must be saved to live in peace for the rest of their lives without being used.
There exist some cities that meet these demands. Horse-drawn carriages ended in Adana two years ago, in Kuşadası and Antalya in this year.
However in Antalya, some news saying horses granted to farmers ‘with the purpose of supporting development’ took part in the press. This means continuing the exploitation by changing the owner of the horses. We do not accept that kind of trickery.
Ending all horse-drawn carriage problems is possible with legal regulations by the improvement of 5199 Animal Protection Act. A large number of animals die in suffer because of the delay on these improvements.
So, without waiting for legal improvements, resolving the problem with their own authority is an urgent case for the municipalities. Horse-drawn carriages are not essential obligation for transportation.
Transportation Coordination Center, connected to İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, is authorized about horse-drawn carriages in Princes Islands. We demand them to end horse-drawn carriages and put ecological solutions into practice.
*We demand that the horses be liberated from the carriage sector IMMEDIATELY!
*We demand that there be no such thing as a certain number or horse-drawn carriages kept in the name of 'nostalgia' and every single one of the horses be freed from this slavery system!
*We demand that there be no such thing as "limited work hours" for the horses as "humane exploitation" is an oxymoron.
*We demand that the necessary measures be taken to ensure that the horses live in places for the rest of their lives where they will not be used!
*We demand that it be guaranteed that the horses in their living spaces never ever be used for riding, transporting, racing or any other purpose that would serve the benefits of humans!
*We demand that horse-drawn carriages be abolished once and for all!
*We demand freedom for the horses!
*This a struggle for freedom and the people owe this to the animals.
End for the horse-drawn carriages, Freedom for the horses!
ANIMAL LIBERATION ACTIVISTS!
"The Independent Animal Rights Society" (Bağımsız Hayvan Hakları Topluluğu)
"Animal Liberation Initiation" (Hayvan Özgürlügü İnisiyatifi)
"Istanbul Vegan Initiation" (İstanbul Vegan İnisiyatifi)
"Solidarity with Animals Initiation" (Hayvanlarla Dayanışma İnisiyatifi)
Photos from the demonstration:
The demonstration on media:
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