Dursun Çebi, President of the Karpaz Conservation Association, has urged authorities to close Karpaz National Park to hunting, calling current policies a contradiction and a threat to wildlife.
In a written statement, Çebi highlighted the plight of turtle doves struggling to survive in extreme heat, with temperatures reaching 45°C. He noted that the birds, along with local shepherds, are retreating to inner villages in search of water—only to face the risk of being hunted.
“Unfortunately, these innocent and mute creatures are being hunted and slaughtered by humans, right where they struggle to survive,” he said, criticizing the state’s decision to allow hunting in Dipkarpaz National Park despite its official designation as a protected area.
Çebi described the move as one of the “greatest contradictions and double standards,” arguing that while authorities claim to safeguard nature and wildlife, granting hunting permits undermines their own commitments.
He stressed that a National Park should mean “absolute protection of nature and wildlife,” and concluded that allowing hunting in a declared protected zone is both unlawful and unconscionable.
