THE SWIMMING CAT
The Armenian Reporter, 2004
   Van, Turkey; The Armenians are all gone, the old part of town is in ruins but the Van Cat is still here. The unique snow white cat with the mystical blue and yellow eyes still lives off the banks of Lake Van in Eastern Turkey. Once known as the Armenian Van Cat when the city was about 75% Armenian - is today known as the Turkish Van� same cat just different owners.
   Before the Genocide and when Van was an Armenian city it was said that everyone here had a Van Cat. It had become such a part of the community that the free spirited little creature earned a role in numerous Armenian folktales � including one little ditty about a fisherman and his white cat.
   Like all good cats they love fish, but the unique Van Cat also loves a good swim, a trait not found in any other breed, which certainly evolved from its habitat along the banks of Lake Van, the largest lake in modern Turkey which is as long as a drive from the Bronx to Hartford, CT.
   Today much has changed in Van since the Armenians, a people whose roots in Van transcends to the ancient Urartians (the proto-Armenians). In the 9th century BC Van was the capital of the Urartian Kingdom.
   The Armenian presence is all but gone except for the ruins. The Van Cat is also no longer a common sight passing along the busy Van streets, though its bigger than life presence greets you as you enter the city in the form of a fifteen feet high alabaster statue with crystal blue and yellow eyes.
   It is the Van bald eagle and today Turkish law has given the animal protected status.
    In 1988, as the Van cat population in the area was nearing extinction, the Yuzuncu Yil University set up a sanctuary to study and preserve the Van cat. 
    According to Prof. Dr. Fetih Gulyuz who manages the sanctuary 1000 real van cats survive inside the country of which only two hundred and fifty possess the trademark one blue and one yellow eye. The remaining are with either both blue or both yellow eyes.
   The sanctuary is home to about 100 of Van�s all white cats, which can be seen scurrying about the 28 rooms of the sanctuary. The rooms vary in themes to family living rooms, including scared furniture, to a tropical jungle setting that includes a pool for the swimming cat.
    In the downtown the cat�s memory still lives on in the form of posters staring back from behind the counter of nearly every shop and often just beneath the cold blue eyed glare of Mustafa Kemal, better known as Ataturk, father of all Turks, the Turkish George Washington, who�s portrait stands over the desk in nearly every business, office, even living rooms throughout the country.
    Turkey maybe be a 99% Islamic nation but nationalism is the state religion � and Ataturk is their savoir � Even using his name in vain is a crime by law which can earn you a prison term.
    Today it is the Kurds and Turks who make up Van�s 380,000 inhabitants and are the new adopted caretakers of its cat, though neither culture has a good reputation when it comes to pet care and this is perhaps one cause of the drastic decline of the animal�s numbers.
   Prof. Dr. Gulyuz claims the decline in numbers is a cause of urbanization and the difficulties in keeping the free spirited Van Cat inside a prison like apartment. 
    He finger points a second cause to two English woman who visited the region in the 1950�s and immediately fell in love with the furry white creature with the spellbinding stare. They took a couple home with them which quickly became all the rave and before long every tourist passing through Eastern Turkey was leaving with one of their cats.
    Today Turkish law strictly forbids the Van cat from stepping outside its boarders.
    It is a tune similar to the claim of Turkish authorities that its ancient relics had been pillaged by souvenir collectors and amateur archeologist. Perhaps the most famous being Heinrich Schliemann, the self proclaimed archeologist who in the 19th century uncovered the mysteries of Troy and in the process took back to Germany millions, if not billions of dollars, worth in ancient valuables.
   History Repeating Itself.........   
Many pragmatist may view the reverence bestowed upon the Van cat as extraordinary, yet it is just another case of history repeating itself. The ancient Egyptians, who are believed to have first domesticated the cat between 4000 and 5000 years ago, saw the aloof animal as a god like creature which was fiercely protected by law and often ended up mummified along with precious gems and treasures.
    This admiration and respect didn�t escape the area�s Hittite and Urartian communities. Excavations in the area going back 3000 years reveal the cat�s image used on jewelry and rock carvings. This respect seem to have passed on to the Roman�s or at least one local Roman legion who used the Van Cat image as their battle standard � a place usually reserved for an image of strength and power like the ferocious lion or wolf. 
    But Prof. Dr. Fetih Gulyuz, the so called �expert� on the Van cat, discards the archeologist evidence and sticks to Turkish authorities view that the Van Cat came from mid Asia with nomadic Turkish tribes and therefore has always been the Turkish Van Cat.
   Whether the cat originated in Van over 3000 years ago or came with the Turks a couple thousand years later the fact remains that their pictures far outnumbers the actual animal.
    �many people here want a Van cat but the picture is the closes we get,� says hotel owner Siddik Kalay who�s loby desk is engulfed with images of the cuddly cat with the distinct stare.
He claims to know people who have a Van cat and raves about their intelligence, memory, friendliness, which are all trademarks of the unique breed. Mr. Kalay, he too wants one � but his desire is more out of need. His hotel has mice � and which just goes to prove just how true it is; �when the Van cat�s away � the Van mice will play.�                THE END
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