The Turkish parliament will not accept visitors between July 26 and 29 during which a controversial bill on the management of the country’ stray dog population will be put to a vote, an obvious move to prevent possible protests, according to a report in the BBC Turkish edition.
According to a letter sent to lawmakers from the speaker’s office, the parliament will extend its working hours during these days to be able to finalize voting on pending legislation including the bill on stray dogs. The lawmakers are hoping to go to summer recess on August 1.
A parliamentary committee approved the 17-article bill this week that is aimed at managing the stray dog population in the country but has met with fierce criticism and objections from animal rights activists and opposition parties, who claim it is paving the way for the mass killing of the animals.
Representatives of some nongovernmental organizations and animal rights activists staged protests in parliament as the bill was being debated at the Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Affairs Committee. They called on the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which introduced the legislation, to withdraw it and labeled the party’s lawmakers as animal “killers.”
Erdoğan was uneasy about the protests in parliament and accused the protestors during a party meeting on Wednesday of “occupying” the parliament with the support of opposition lawmakers, who are against the legislation, and shamelessly calling the lawmakers “killers” under the roof of parliament.
Erdoğan said necessary measures should be taken in parliament to prevent similar scenes from occurring.
The closure of parliament to visitors is seen as one of those “measures” taken in line with Erdoğan’s call.
He also said on Wednesday that the bill would be passed into law before the summer recess and that the streets will be made safe. “There will be never be concessions, we will finish this,” Erdoğan said.
There are approximately 4 million stray animals are wandering the streets and rural areas of Turkey, according to a statement from Erdoğan. While many of them are docile, an increasing number of dogs are seen roaming in packs, and numerous people have been attacked.
The bill attracted widespread criticism and sparked protests as its first version would have allowed local municipalities to euthanize all dogs that pose a “threat to public safety.” It had to be revised after the broad meaning of the phrase prompted accusations from animal rights activists and opposition politicians that local municipalities could seek a shortcut by opting for the mass culling of dogs in their jurisdictions.
The revised version of the bill does not make a direct reference to “euthanasia” as the word was taken out of the text due to public outrage although there is an indirect reference to it through the Law on Veterinary Services, which actually bans euthanasia in general but sets strict conditions for the practice to be implemented in certain cases.
Since the AKP and its far-right ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), hold a majority in parliament, the bill is likely to soon be approved by the general assembly.