Denktash plan to exile donkeys
A voracious herd of wild donkeys roaming the Turkish-occupied tip of Cyprus is to be banished to Turkey for damaging crops, to the dismay of Turkish-Cypriot environmentalists and the Cypriot government. Following complaints by 12 Turkish-Cypriot environmental groups, Cypriot Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous said on Saturday that the Cyprus donkey is a protected animal whose frugal eating habits are inconsistent with the reason given for the herd’s deportation. «I join my voice with the Turkish-Cypriot environmental groups in opposing this,” the minister said. The plight of the animals, which live on the Karpas Peninsula, the sharp peninsula at the northeastern end of Cyprus, prompted fiery denunciation in the Turkish-Cypriot press. The Kibris newspaper argued that Turkish-Cypriot officials should have fenced off the donkeys’ runs to protect local farmers’ produce. «We have been going to London to see our people who emigrated because they were disappointed,» Kibris said. «Now, we will be organizing trips to see our donkeys as well.»
