Türkiye is characterized by a widespread culture of affection and companionship toward animals. Reflecting this, the country’s first animal protection law was enacted in 2004 during the EU accession process, establishing standards for managing and protecting the rights of stray animals (Özen, 2017). However, the government recently passed a controversial law that confines stray animals to inhumane conditions, subjects them to brutal deaths, and enforces strict euthanasia practices. This recent legislation has triggered a massive backlash from the public, particularly from activists, volunteer caregivers, and opposition groups (Michaelson, 2024b). (From my organization studies Participatory Action Research Proposal, 2024)
Because humans are the species that invaded the natural habitats of these animals, ‘stray’ is not the rightful term to describe them or discuss the surrounding issue. As a side note to this poem and title, I want to emphasize that we have lost, and continue to lose countless living beings, while volunteers are being marginalized and, in certain cases, even exposed to violence. Sterilization is the most effective and humane practice for managing animal overpopulation; when systematically applied and regulated by municipalities, it has been found to achieve the best results in population reduction and protection. Instead, the cost of municipal negligence and inaction is now being forced onto the animals themselves, making them targets for a crisis that was never their fault. Through this work, we highlight the theme of “home”, rights for all and call out the anthropocentric lens that leaves these animals and their fundamental rights behind.
Trigger warning: sensitive themes, words, news regarding animal rights and violence towards animals.
“A Turkish Interior Ministry advisor told the commission that approximately 975,000 stray animals have been “collected” since March 15, 2025—representing 78 percent of the estimated 1.25 million stray animals that existed when the current policy began.“
It is crucial to note that ‘collecting’ actually means confining these animals to shelters with terrible conditions and subjecting them to euthanasia methods that are neither painless nor fair. Statistically, euthanasia is not an effective population control method (Literature available if requested).
Furthermore, some of these collected animals already have caretakers; for instance, they are actively looked after by volunteers, local shopkeepers, or non-profit organizations.
Cezve, who had been beloved by one of the apartment tenants, deprived from her right to live by a violent men, due to lack of protective laws and legislations. https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cezve_(kedi)
A roof, a room, a cooking meal Oil, spice, and a cozy light I travel to countries Visit history and ancient ruins I talk to people Strangers, friends, family Somehow this world Still cannot contain me
Came here without my will Relentless decisions I had to raise this child It is so heavy, downhill I count pennies, then earn money Get a bigger room Maybe it is on the way, some company Garden view
Away from death and shame I run for so long Yet still I don't belong Something is missing Making me want to be missing Making me want to end it all No matter how I try Never a natural, always a hard achiever
I seed dreams, watch them grow Then I watch them burn 'Cause there is always a better candidate I love science Treat it as destiny, Only salvation from demise My brain keeps producing All on paper comes as lines They expect numbers and figures My words have no worth in their eyes
I aspire to work hard When did I lose the joy of learning? Having no direction or idol Just a wild sea sailing I seek approval, claps, and glory Yet I feel so fake in my own skin No matter how high the ladder It is always small, No victory brings happiness It gets numb, dark, and thunder
I had never been so lost Losing all spark, living with a ghost Thus I list a million falls All the what-ifs Losses loom larger than gains First lesson of theory I am getting erased in the maze
I don't know who she is If not a scientist I don't know who she is If not chasing high dreams I don't know where she belongs Where is home to go back to Twenty-six years Still no trace of a place
Not forced, gently held I try everything Took every leap Jump through each mountain Yet when you are brave Looking strong and fearless People assume you don't suffer When you seem like living Nobody guesses the death under
One, two, three I try every heart massage Each time she comes back from death Searching for the old version When you come too far Swim for too long Raising every bar A light so bright Attempts to shed on the dark People don't see How consumed you are
Hands on your neck Suffocated, ridiculed, humiliated By all of my wasted potential 'Cause each time I hope It ends up being my end My death is silent Prolonged twenty-six-year pretender
As I barely get along Holding the surface Against the stream pulling me No one adds to the force As I seem to be okay Do normal, no emotions, hey Me being the strong one The brave, the edgy, sharp tongue Nobody notices I can taste the soil in my mouth The corpse buried All promises undelivered My death is silent
I highly achieve the art of living I act so well, trick all that I am surviving All my dreams crumble Bruise my hands and fallen shoulders I search for soup in the ice-cold winter I search from the windows Cats and impossible lovers No sign of a roof on top
My soul is a stray Believing a second's last warmth Never forgetting a smile Stabs aching on my back I jump through houses Tragedies and happy endings I cannot find her again Grieving every day harder Thus I create foes Bleed scars from old wounds
My soul is a stray A wet cat in the rain's debt I have a thousand families in the world You count the countries Suburbs and mysteries A thousand people cross my path No sign of a warm couch Or a kiss on my forehead
I look to the sky Searching for a god to complain to This is my baby It existed even before me The slipping life essence White coats in cold wishes This is my baby It was my love Even before you The sunlight shining through It kept me warm Kept me here Felt like I could belong If I understand the other
This is my baby I will keep my promise Hold it dearly Even if the weight is killing me My shoulders leaving me Be the mother Be the father Be a gentle lover Be all you have not been to me All the memories never given The warm family forbidden Be the sun, be the moon Give me a careless childhood A child so joyful Be everything you have not Be the luck, be the fire Merge my broken bones Redeem my frozen heart
My soul is in the streets I am watching her Floating in the air A spectator in my own life The best and the worst person in the world Like a Trier movie I cannot merge her anywhere Sobbing on the floor, Whose room is this? What am I doing on this tour?
I thought it would be cured Having someone, or a bigger room to live in It is a never-ending unbelonging As if I was put in this world Unidentified object, rare I change puzzles Puzzles change me, Still this is no home, I lie down under the sea
When my beloved goes away Changes worlds, Lost in an ashtray When I wait for the only face I miss As well as my orange baby, Visiting me while I am in a white dress Seeking redemption In a pseudo dream's hug and fiction
I am always cold as winter Child of January, Never should have been here It is not my will, nor my choice I cannot end it, or enforce I only walk at midnights Nights walk all over me
I violently purr to strangers, Toe beans damaged kilometers Pet the cat once, or be gentle Even if you do not care She takes an oath, loving and loyal to protect So don't pet at all If you are not meant to stay 'Cause she confuses fake socials With real love's trace
I walk, run, and jump Arriving nowhere close I only get invited to Joyful families, feasts, and tables Guest actress, stray cat under I talk, laugh, always make a joke I pretend living so well Even my death is unsure Though I am convinced I wasn't supposed to be here or there Too big, small, aware For my country, or old family there
Like that orange little cat Only loved when it behaves Or perhaps Kafka's Gregor You are only worth your work Or the success they search for I did everything right Follow the script, no drift apart Relations of states, wars, and peace Politics of us, and psyche under Still I couldn't reach that dream Cannot touch it, it is too far
I seek evidence Keep going, it will turn out better No sign of sun I pretend living so well My death and despair questions: Are you an imposter in our misery? It is invisible, witty, and cruel No trace is written on my face My resilient figure and big jumps Thus I cannot make anyone believe, I don't call for rescue, Going one battle after another
I recognize and hold pain so well Just because I carry it so well I am the first one not spared My self is a stranger Only pretending a strength That I wished to never have
Only felt home once When Arya was here We were making head bumps I wrote poems and composed songs When I was still alive with him Smelling his fur That white little paw Pinky beans on toes Green eyes and oranges Seeing me better than anyone Loving unconditionally Two strays, one home
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