Turkish Cypriot athlete Kemal Elektrikci on Wednesday announced that he will complete a 24-hour swim to “show that we stand against the bastards who committed the donkey massacre” in Karpasia earlier this week.
Elektrikci said he will complete the challenge alongside fellow athlete Bekir Yemen at the Ataturk indoor swimming pool in northern Nicosia.
The swim will begin at 6am on March 8.
The “donkey massacre” to which he was referring saw at least 14 wild donkeys found to have been shot dead during fieldwork carried out by the Tashkent nature park in Karpasia.
The organisation said the donkeys were “brutally slaughtered”.
“These innocent animals, which are the symbol of Cyprus, were shot and killed as a result of a brutal act of violence,” it added.
It pointed out that one of the donkeys killed was pregnant and was giving birth at the time, saying that this incident in particular “tore our hearts out”.
The Turkish Cypriot police have launched an investigation into the matter.
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar also weighed in on the matter, describing the incident as “heinous” and saying it has “deeply broken my heart”.
“Just as in cases of violence against women or children, it is our humanitarian duty to evaluate violence against animals within the scope of violence of the powerful against the weak and to raise our voice against it. The fact that the vast majority of our people have taken a stand against this cruel incident has been soothing for our pain,” he said.
He added that Turkish Cypriots “are a people who love animals and humans”, and that “the safety of our animal friends and their existence in a healthy environment should be our compass”.
“I have full faith that the perpetrators of this outrageous incident will be identified by our police immediately and brought to justice,” he said.
The incident comes a month after a donkey was left in a “critical condition” after being shot multiple times by a hunter.
At the time, Tashkent nature park director Kemal Basat described those who shoot donkeys as “nature terrorists” and added that “the biggest enemy of hunting is its inability to cleanse itself of the bad apples”.
“These human-looking murderers are wandering around nature with hunting rifles with the permission given by the state. The fact that a psychopathic murderer has a hunting licence paves the way for such incidents,” he added.
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