Turkey urges Australia not to kill thousands of camels

By Enes Kaplan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Thursday called on Australia to find alternative ways to deal with the growing population of camels instead of killing thousands of them.

“We are worried about news reports that up to 10 thousand camels will be shot and killed due to excessive proliferation and water problems for various reasons. We express our call to the Australian government to find a different solution,” said Omer Celik, spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, in a Twitter post.

Celik asked Australian authorities to use the resources, which would be used for killing the camels, to keep them alive.

“Hoping that the balance of nature will be achieved and water resources will be protected by killing thousands of camels is not a humanitarian approach, nor it protects nature,” he added.

In the state of South Australia, the aboriginal community Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara's (APY) local government authority announced on Jan. 6 that thousands of camels will be shot dead.

"Given ongoing dry conditions and the large camel congregations threatening all of the main APY communities and infrastructure, immediate camel control is needed," said Richard King, APY’s general manager.

Celik also expressed sorrow over loss of some 1.25 billion animals and eight million hectares of forests caused by bushfires in Australia.

“We share the pain of the losses caused by the fire; We offer our condolences for the victims of the disaster and we express our sorrow for the 1.25 billion animals that lost their lives and the 8 million hectares of forest that have been destroyed,” he added.

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin