Parrot trapped in shuttered news agency in Turkey

ANKARA

A parrot has been left trapped in a news agency that was shut down over its alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Agency (PKK) after Turkish authorities shuttered the office even though the bird remained inside.

Ankara police sealed the building when no one was inside it late on Oct. 31, but did not bring out the parrot, “Taloz.” The employees of the agency could not enter the building due to the seal on the door and called their lawyers upon hearing the parrot’s voice. 

“Heval [“Friend in Kurdish], who is it?” shouted the parrot, according to daily Evrensel.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Istanbul lawmaker Sezgin Tanrıkulu called senior authorities from the Interior Ministry and asked them to save Tolaz. He also said the parrot had not been fed since the morning of Oct. 31.

The parrot was expected to die if it does not receive food by the end of Nov. 1.

Officials from Çankaya Municipality were waiting in front of DİHA’s building to save Tolaz, which knows a total of 70 Turkish and Kurdish words.