Istanbul streets filled with anger over brutal killing of stray cat
2 Min Read
An animal rights group announces that it would be appealing the culprit's early release, citing that he should be jailed for four years not one as stated by law.
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The Turkish cat, Eros, who was killed last month (X/Pusholder)
The streets of Istanbul are being flooded with protests and petitions urging the Turkish President to take more measures to retry the criminal who killed a stray cat.
Back in January, Ibrahim Keloglan was caught on security camera footage in his residential building kicking a stray cat named Eros to death.
Last month, the culprit was sentenced to 18 months in jail but was released on good behavior, sparking an uproar among animal welfare groups and the public.
An online petition was signed by around 320,000 people who demanded a stricter sentence as the justice ministry last month claimed Ibrahim Keloglan would be retried following a night-time call from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying he was taking "personal" interest in the matter.
Even though the judges increased his sentence by a year, he was not detained.
#ibrahimkeloğlanTUTUKLANSIN
— İsviçreli 🇨🇭& 🇹🇷 (@isvicreli17) March 13, 2024
Burası Eros’u sevenler ile dolu hepinize teşekkürler 🙏 arkadaşlar pic.twitter.com/JaS1DSQRsQ
One animal rights group announced that it would be appealing, citing that he should be jailed for four years stated by law.
During the trial, it came to light that Keloglan attacked and killed the cat for about five minutes, despite its attempts to escape.
The hashtag #JusticeforEros (#ErosicinAdalet) is trending on social media platform X, while in Turkey several major newspapers, such as Hurriyet, display pictures of the dead cat on their front pages.
Hurriyet posted several articles about Eros and "Ibrahim the killer", while many celebrities joined the Justice for Eros appeal, such as Argentinian footballer Mauro Icardi of the reigning Turkish Galatasaray team.
