DONKEY CAMPAIGN UNITES CYPRIOTS

The Karpas wild donkeys are seen as a symbol of Cyprus. Recently both Greek and Turkish Cypriots have united together on their divided island to save these endangered wild donkeys… The initiative was launched by a group of people on the social networking website ‘Facebook’ after discovering 10 donkeys were found shot dead at the end of March 2008. “Let’s stop the massacre of Karpas donkeys!” says a message from the group, which has already attracted more than 2,000 members to date. The Karpas Peninsula in Northern Cyprus is home to several hundred donkeys.

The Facebook group says the Karpas donkeys “are the symbol of Cyprus and it is our responsibility to protect them”. The messages which are posted in both Greek and Turkish, are a new gesture of unity on the island, whose communities remain divided by a UN-patrolled buffer zone.

A group of Greek and Turkish Cypriots rallied on a beach in the Karpas Peninsula on 13 April to “Save the Cyprus Donkey”. The Karpas donkeys are a legacy of the 1974 Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus, when Greek Cypriot farmers fled the area, leaving their animals behind, the AFP news agency reports.

This article was reported on BBC News, 22nd April 08.