AGRICULTURE Minister Costas Themistocleous yesterday said he opposed the decision by the Turkish Cypriots to export donkeys to Turkey because of reports they were damaging crops.
“I join my voice with the Turkish Cypriot environmental groups in opposing this,” Themistocleous said.
According to Turkish Cypriot press reports, environmental groups in the north are outraged at a decision to export donkeys that currently roam free in the occupied Karpas peninsula.
Twelve groups have criticised the decision and said they will not accept it.
“We sold the mountains and stones and now it’s the turn of the donkeys,” the Turkish Cypriot environmentalists said.
The daily newspaper Kibris censured the ‘state’ for being unable to contain the donkeys in a fenced area, instead letting them roam free and damage crops.
“We have been going to London to see our people who left for abroad because they were disappointed,” Kibris said. “Now we will be organising trips to see our donkeys as well.”
Themistocleous said he was surprised at reports that the donkeys are damaging crops, saying the donkey it is a very frugal animal that can survive on little food.
He added that the Cyprus donkey was a protected animal and that his ministry had implemented a specific programme for the welfare of this animal “that has given so much in the development of the country, since at one time it was the only means of transport”.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
