Turkish media horrified at Eid slaughter

The public sacrifice of animals marking the first day of the festival of Eid al-Adha has provoked countrywide protests in Turkey.

The Turkish media have expressed outrage that despite warnings from the authorities, hundreds of thousands of animals have been cruelly slaughtered while the country looks on.

"Shame on you" and "Stop this" were some of Tuesday's headlines.

Marking the end of the pilgrimage to Mecca, Eid is traditionally celebrated by sacrificing a sheep. But many animals are being killed in the streets, rather than government designated sites.

The daily Milliyet published photos of the slaughter on one of the country's motorways under the headline: "This is the road to the EU, turned into a blood-bath."

The Radikal newspaper ran a banner headline on its front page saying "Open slaughterhouse".

Cruelty

Hurriyet said millions of people were sickened by the cruelty. It listed incidents of cruelty across the country.

In the town of Bursa, one bull tried to escape from its tormenters and was rescued by the fire brigade only to be caught again and slaughtered.

In Sanliurfa, another bull was beaten and stoned to death in the street by the whole neighbourhood.

Animals were hanged from the trees and even from electricity pylons.

In Kayseri bulls were hanged by a hind-leg from a crane.

But a ram in Izmir was luckier. He managed to run away and took refuge at the police station where he was protected.

Threat of epidemics

Worried about possible epidemics, the local authorites have issued warnings of the danger of disease, but the warnings have been widely flouted.

The media reported incidents in which parts of slaughtered animals were disposed of in the open, rather than in designated septic tanks.

A smell of rotting flesh pervades many open areas and some streets, Hurriyet said.

In Adana blood and intestines were seen blocking sewers and flooding out onto the streets.

Radikal quoted Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit as saying he regretted the slaughter. "There are scientific ways of sacrificing an animal. I want to find a solution to this problem," he said.

Several papers said that the practice created a primitive image of the country and called for end to it to create an image more befitting EU standards.

The prominent journalist Bekir Coskun of Hurriyet said: "Such incidents on the streets do not befit the Turkey of this century."

Reuters, January 17, 2002

German court allows Muslim slaughter of animals

KARLSRUHE - Germany's Constitutional Court has overturned a ban on the traditional Muslim slaughter of animals, ruling that Muslim butchers do not have to lessen the pain during slaughter.

In recent years, Muslims in Germany seeking halal food prepared according to Islamic rules had to buy imported meats.

"Before, Muslims in Germany imported meat from Belgium, France, Britain and other countries," Hasan Oezdogan, head of Germany's Islamic Council, said this week. "Now much more meat will be produced locally."

The German federal administrative court banned Muslim ritual slaughter in 1995 as the practice did not seek to lessen animals' pain before death through electric shock or other methods.

"The case pitted freedom of religion on one side against animal rights and I feel the animal protection side was given too little weight," said animal rights advocate Eisenhart von Loeper.

He said lessening the pain of death was not incompatible with traditional religious practice.

In its ruling, the Constitutional Court said the previous ban posed impermissible interference into professional freedom as it effectively barred Muslims from working as butchers.

Under Islamic rules animals are slaughtered by a cut across the neck to ensure maximum flow of blood. The butcher has to say "In the name of God" while cutting.

Overturning the ban will also make it easier for German Muslims to observe Eid al-Adha when families sacrifice an animal, giving some of it to the poor, Muslim community officials said. That holiday falls in late February this year.

"Jews can slaughter their animals in their traditional way without there being questions about any law," said Wolf Aries, another official at the Islamic Council. "Until this decision, this right was denied to the Muslims."

He said some Muslims had observed the ritual slaughter in Germany without official sanction. Others asked families abroad to make the slaughter and donate the food to the poor.

"We hope this will be an important step in the integration of Muslims in Germany," Oezdogan said.

More than three million Muslims live in Germany, many of whom have family roots in Turkey.