Actors Şoray and İnanır sign petition to free dolphins in Turkey

The “Bana Göz Kulak Ol” (Take Care of Me) campaign was launched by the Freedom for Dolphins Platform for the sake of dolphins that they say are brought to Turkey for entertainment shows and kept in unhealthy conditions. The campaign seeks to prohibit the opening of new centers featuring dolphin shows or offering dolphin-assisted therapy as well as the closure of such existing centers.

The petition bears the signatures of 26 Turkish artists, including actor Erdal Beşikçioğlu and actresses Özge Özder and Ayça Varlıer. The campaign was started by Özder, who first collected signatures from among celebrities. She is now looking to garner more support for her cause. The petition has so far collected more than 16,000 signatures on the website www.yunuslaraozgurluk.com.

The organization's mandate states that dolphins used in entertainment and at therapy centers are sad and experience trauma, sometimes leading to suicide or attacks on trainers or visitors. “This sector in Turkey finances the animal hunting and captivity sector in Japan's Taiji Bay, which results in the deaths of 23,000 dolphins every year,” the mandate reads. It is also emphasized that so-called “dolphin therapy,” the practice of swimming with dolphins as a means of treating certain mental and physical disorders, does not have a scientific basis and takes the money and hopes of the families of the disabled.