Turkish lawyer demands cancellation of tender for puppies smuggled from Bulgaria

ANKARA

A Turkish lawyer has applied to the authorities to cancel a tender procedure that aims to sell 22 smuggled puppies from Bulgaria that were seized by the authorities.

The lawyer Sedat Vural wrote his formal letter of complaint to the Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office, to be handed to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office in the northwestern province of Edirne. Selling animals through tenders was “against the law, social conscious, human dignity and ethical values,” his letter said, online news outlet Duvar reported on March 7.

Vural filed the complaint after media outlets on March 5 announced that Turkish customs on Jan. 21 had seized a total of 22 puppies at the Kapıkule Border Gate in Edirne province in a vehicle with a Bulgarian license. The puppies have been put temporarily under the care of the Animal Rights Federation (HAYTAP) until the planned tender date – a standard procedure in Turkey regarding the seizure of smuggled animals.

But in his letter Vural said Turkey’s laws do not provide the Edirne Liquidation Authority with the authority to hold such a tender, demanding an investigation be launched into public officials who officially requested the tender procedure on charges of “misconduct in office” and “inciting a crime.”

“The issue is not just a crime according to the Criminal Code, but also a crime against humanity, human dignity, and conscience, as it commodifies our dear friends, with whom we share a common life, and turns them into slaves condemned by humanity. The state itself is committing a crime with its own hands,” Vural said in his letter.