The fur is flying between the eastern Turkish city of Van and the capital, Ankara. Van, as cat lovers know, is home to the unique Van cat, a breed distinguished by its white coat and different colored eyes. Ankara, as cat lovers might also know, is home to the unique Angora cat, a breed distinguished by its white coat and different colored eyes. Confused? It appears that so are the cities that are home to these two breeds.
As the Hurriyet Daily News reports, officials in Van are not too happy about Ankara's new municipal logo: a fluffy white cat. From the report:
The official city logo recently adopted by Ankara’s municipal assembly has prompted a “cat fight” between the capital and the eastern city of Van over the origins of the feline symbol, the Anatolia news agency reported Sunday.The Van Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or VATSO, and the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality both claim their cities are the real home of the “smiling Turkish Angora” depicted on Ankara’s new logo.
Speaking to the press Saturday, the chairman of the chamber said it was wrong for Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek to misrepresent the Van kittens he showed to journalists as if they were Angora, or Ankara, cats.
“Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek has been giving press statements about the Turkish Angora for two days after they selected the feline as the new symbol of the city,” VATSO Chairman Zahir Kandaşoğlu said. “However, he said the Turkish Angora has a white coat with one blue and one amber eye, which is wrong.”
“The kittens presented to the press during the statement are Turkish Van [cats], and as described those are their features. Even if these kittens were born in Ankara, their father is definitely from Van,” he added.
The Ankara Metropolitan Municipality press center issued a statement Sunday in response to the claims, saying that a simple Internet search is all that is required to learn about the differences between Turkish Angora and Turkish Van cats. Prior to the adoption of the logo, it said, Turkish Angora kittens were requested from the Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo, and the cats were introduced to members of the municipal assembly and the press in a scientific manner.
“As you might have already known from that presentation, Turkish Angora cats have completely white coats, and their fur is notably fluffy. However, as can be discerned from the literature, Turkish Vans are recognized as patterned cats with color restricted to the head and tail and the body of the cat being white. They may have blue eyes, amber eyes or one eye of each color,” the statement said.
The information-packed Wikipedia entry on the Van cat is here. Unfortunately, the entry doesn't give the definitive answer for just how to tell the difference between a Van cat and an Angora. For now, it looks this dispute will remain unresolved.
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