by Francesca Pacini
A tribe of heart
In the outskirts of Istanbul, a man chooses the company of nature and animals. Mert Akkők is an entrepreneur who lives with his thirty-seven dogs, and is famous for his commitment to mistreated and struggling animals. In fact, there are also donkeys, horses, and even seagulls… His story teaches us to recover a dimension that we have lost.
As soon as I arrive, a tribe of dogs wagging their tails appears in front of me. Mert lives on the outskirts of Istanbul, but for privacy reasons I promise not to mention it to anyone there, he will be protected by my silence. It is easy to understand the reasons. Mert Akkők is famous in Turkey for his commitment to saving and protecting animals. Especially dogs. He has thirty-seven. But he also has donkeys, horses, some cats and many seagulls. Animals in need, animals saved. As we approached his home by car, I met hundreds of dogs along the road. Between the trees I see blankets, wooden houses. And I already know that Mert’s hand and heart have reached this far, far beyond the fence of his farm.
Unfortunately for animal lovers it is a bad time in this country: the new law provides for the capture of stray dogs, and their detention (yes, I use this word) in shelters – overcrowded concentration camps, incapable of managing new arrivals. I will talk to him about it. Aggressive and sick dogs are put down. I love people who do things instead of complaining. And he is a man of action. Despite his life in contact with nature, Mert continues to practice his profession as an entrepreneur (he works in the health and hospital tourism sector and participates in international conferences) but, tirelessly, he takes care of his animals with love and passion. He has a frank look, Mert. The kind that pierces your soul. A bit like what happens with dogs, when you drown in their eyes devoid of ego, masks, malice. It is true: contact with animals helps us return to ourselves, to our essence. Here you can breathe a special air. Mert’s big family welcomes us together with him. Big and small dogs, young and old, affectionately attack us to steal caresses and cuddles. A cheerful tribe that seems to tell of a single, big heart. Here is Zeytin, the protagonist of Stray, the documentary by Elizabeth Lo that narrates the life of Istanbul’s strays (Mert will tell us what it’s like because he now lives with him). And then Fergus, Viktor, Benel, Popi, Kalp, Vincent, Rupert, Caroline and all the others whose looks are impossible to forget.
They all very close to Mert, of course: a line of tails follows us while he, kindly, introduces us to the other tenants: the horses, the donkeys, the seagulls. A piece of Eden that must be conquered every day because animals also involve commitment, sweat, toil. And above all responsibility, which is lacking today in governments and private individuals, too immersed in a world accustomed to an anthropocentric vision that leads us to exercise dominion and control over them. We have broken the ancient pact of alliance with men and animals, we are no longer capable of tuning into each other through the heart, nor of respecting this planet together with its guests. In the transition from an egocentric vision to an “ecocentric” vision, animals can be precious guides. Especially dogs, in whose eyes you can read all the unconditional love in the world. Of this and other worlds of which they are, like us, children and witnesses. The dog is a symbol of loyalty, of altruism. Unfortunately, man is often not up to his teaching, nor to the responsibility that it entails. Instead, at Mert’s house everything tells of this pact between man and animal, of this walking together using different languages, more in touch with our origin.
Thank you, Mert, for inviting me here. How did your adventure begin? This is a place where animals are cared for, protected, free from human violence. We live in dark times, it is important to set examples of integrity and harmony with the animals we share the planet with…
I can’t pinpoint a specific date. I have always loved animals since childhood. I have always taken care of animals, I have always had them at home with me. I was very young, I depended on my parents so I could only have one dog, sometimes two. But when I became an adult, I started earning and having an independent life, I started adopting more dogs. I started with dogs. I have always been “a dog person” (this is how I translate the expression “a dog person” ed.). But in reality I love all animals. I take care of anyone in need: donkeys, seagulls… So I started adopting dogs, the older I got the more dogs I had. When I was in my thirties I had several dogs and lived and worked in Cyprus. I came back to Turkey, settled here and realized that there were so many homeless animals. I knew it before, but when I was younger I didn’t have the maturity to fully understand it, to understand that it was also my personal responsibility. Many people know that there are stray cats and dogs on the streets, they know it, but they continue their lives with this awareness. They don’t take the next step, they don’t understand that they can act to help solve the situation. Everyone expects someone else to solve the problem: the government, other people… Others ignore it but the problem persists, it’s there. We continue our lives ignoring the fact that those poor, innocent creatures live in miserable conditions. I don’t find it humane, I don’t find it “civilized”. It’s easy to ignore them. But if you have dignity, if you have a philosophical sense towards all forms of suffering, human and animal, when you find it in your daily life you can’t just continue like this. You have to try to do something. Have I gone too far?
No, no! This is the kind of conversation I love. As we were saying before the interview, we are losing pieces of humanity: through the use of Instagram and Facebook we are no longer used to depth… Okay, let’s get to the bottom of it! While you were talking you made me think of Gandhi. He said that the degree of civilization is measured by the way animals are treated. That’s the point. You can’t just ignore it.
Yes. As I was saying, I started adopting more dogs in need. The sick ones, the old ones… At one point I had seven and I lived in the city. It was a small house with a garden, but they were more dogs than I could afford. There were many others outside, and they were in need. When I was forty I decided to move out of Istanbul, and start a farm, this one, to save as many animals as possible. At the time I was still “a dog guy”, I had not planned to save donkeys, horses, birds… So I settled here. This is my home. I live here with all my animals. When I came here, I knew I would adopt many more animals. And I did. In this area of Istanbul, people abandon dogs… Yes, we saw many on the street, coming here. They leave hundreds, thousands. Stray dogs are abandoned here. People know that I give them food, so they feel less guilty. They don’t understand that they are sentencing them to death, they don’t think about the fact that they are killing them. They think they are giving them a chance. The municipality also abandons them here, collects them from the streets and leaves them out here. In this area, there are hundreds of dogs trying to survive. Here we are in the suburbs, but still in Istanbul. Every day I go to work, while I drive I see all these animals. I can’t ignore it, I try to give them food, houses. There are other volunteers like me. We try to keep them safe, warm. We try to keep them healthy.
May I ask you what you think about this controversial law? Different countries have different approaches to strays. Turkey has always had the most humane control system, even more humane than European countries.
I have always supported this as well.
There are different approaches. The first is that of civilizations still in development like India, Iran, Pakistan… They simply kill them. Not in all of India, to tell the truth. These countries see strays as the plague, and they kill them. They poison them, they shoot them… This is how they manage “the problem”. The second approach is the European one, or rather I would say Western one, which is that of developed countries that still involves killing. Europeans get offended when I tell them this. There are few strays in Europe. Many families have dogs and cats. But when an animal is abandoned it is taken to certain shelters and given a certain amount of time, three months for example… They give it a chance to be adopted. I must say that the percentage of adoptions is quite high. But if an animal does not find a home in the period given to it, “euthanasia” is practiced (I underline the quotation marks that Mert draws in the air with his fingers)…
The word euthanasia is used incorrectly here. In reality it should only be practiced in cases of unspeakable suffering and incurable diseases.
Exactly. They are killed. So it happens in Europe too. And in America too. There are some shelters that don’t do it, but in most cases it happens. After the Second World War in Europe there were massive killings of stray dogs and cats, the number had decreased. The third approach was the one that was used, until recently, in Turkey. Turkey had a very humane law. The government was not allowed to kill any animal. The municipality would take them, sterilize them, vaccinate them, put a tag on the ear with the animal’s registration number, so as to avoid doing it again, and then they would put it back in the territory, in the place where it was found. In the same street, in the same neighborhood. In this way the animals would not reproduce. In every area of Istanbul there are volunteers, like me, there are crazy men and women who take care of them, give them food, sometimes take them to the vet. In short, they take care of them. So the animals have a decent life, until they die naturally. This is a very humane solution. But it didn’t work, for many reasons. First of all, the law wasn’t well applied, nor implemented. They didn’t sterilize enough. Many animal owners, who didn’t sterilize, didn’t hand them over to the government so it could do it. They wanted the puppies, then when they realized how hard it was to take care of them, they abandoned them on the street. The government can’t force animal owners to sterilize. In short, this method didn’t work. There were more and more puppies. Hundreds of homeless puppies, on the streets. So the government took them and took them out of the city, to the countryside. But what do they eat there? What do they drink? Who takes care of them? So we try to make them live. But this is a paradox. The more I take care of them, the more dogs arrive. There is a limit. Yes, there are charities, and private individuals, who try to keep them alive. But it is a never-ending problem. We try to take care of them, and they bring us more. I have adopted as many as I can. I am almost afraid to say how many I have…let’s say more than thirty dogs! And then I have four horses. All the animals have some problem, one of them for example is blind. I don’t take cute, “chic” animals! I adopt those in need. I also adopted an orphaned donkey, who comes from Eastern Turkey. In short, abandoned or mistreated animals. Three donkeys, four horses, cats, seagulls…
And you also have a movie star.
Yes. Zeytin.
How did you meet Zeytin?
We were introduced. Let’s say it was an arranged meeting! Zeytin is a girl. By the way, Zeytin in Turkish means olive. We usually call each other the dark dogs, but Zeytin is blonde! Some homeless man called her that. She was one of the many strays in Istanbul. She lived with some drug-addicted vagrants. Yes, we saw it in the documentary! An American director, Elizabeth Lo (actually she is from Hong Kong but lives in America), wanted to make a film about stray dogs. It is called Stray and it was made. She met me as a volunteer, before making the film. She interviewed me, like you are doing. We talked about the situation of stray animals in Turkey. She stayed in Turkey for a few months, and shot the film. It is a simple but emotionally powerful film. Not much happens, she just followed Zeytin. He met her, and decided to follow her. He filmed what a dog from Istanbul does. He goes around, hangs out with other dogs, looks for food, hunts cats…
As soon as the film was finished, which was very well received, the government started thinking about changing the law (now they have). Our president was talking on TV about catching strays on the streets and taking them to shelters. We volunteers know that it actually means killing them. There are not enough places in shelters. And shelters are concentration camps. They don’t get enough food, they don’t get enough care… So taking them to shelters means killing them. So we protested against this law to try to stop it. Elizabeth found out about this law, contacted me again, and asked me if Zeytin would be affected too.
I didn’t know if Zeytin was still alive. She was completely alone, on the streets, in Istanbul, and some time had passed. Elizabeth came from the United States to look for her. She found her. And she brought her to me. She asked me if I could adopt her. Of course I said yes. Zeytin joined my family. Now she is one of the “elders” of the family. Very quiet, always sleeping. Zeytin lived on the street for a long time, and she is an independent dog. She likes to go out. Sometimes she goes out of the farm, then comes back. She is not always in the garden, like none of my dogs. I have a truck that I put the dogs in, and I take them to the forest. I let them loose, and they run for hours. They play, they chase each other… But I don’t do it in the summer, when there are a lot of people going on picnics, because some people feel uncomfortable in the presence of dogs.
So I do it in the winter, very early in the morning. That way I avoid any encounter with humans. Now I have really a lot of dogs. Before I had ten, twelve. I could take them all out together. Now I have divided them into groups, so when we go out I can keep a better eye on them.
So Zeytin has not lost her freedom.
No. And I think I offer them all a good life. I have seen that sometimes with Zeytin you have meetings to educate people. It is a mission. We must educate people, not animals. Do you know how important it is now? I know. I am not very optimistic. Our society is going through a challenging period. We are losing our civilization, even children receive a terrible education. They do not improve. People are regressing. They are becoming more and more violent. There is more aggression, more vulgarity. We have taken a very bad direction.
These are dark times for everyone on the planet. The whole planet is in danger. It is a time that seems to belong to the devil. And I do not say this in a religious sense. Don’t you think that connecting to the nautre and animals is one of the best ways there is?
I hope that this fetish of life in the cities can be abandoned. For our generation it was a taboo: people wanted to go to cities, live in big apartments in residential complexes, study, have a job, do shipping, have luxury cars… But I always thought it was a false model. They saw it as a reward. But the real reward is living in nature. Picking fruit from your tree, being aware of the seasons… many people are not aware of it at all. They don’t know that there is a season to eat bananas, apples, there is a season for fruits and vegetables… They go to the supermarket and buy the fruit they want at any time of the year. But it’s not natural. When you live in nature you know that you have to save wood for the winter, you have to save some food for the future, you have to preserve and conserve some things. When you live away from the city you become aware that you are part of nature too. Which we have forgotten. Living with animals teaches you a lot. First of all, they have a shorter life than us. They die. We love them unconditionally, we learn from them, we learn about death, we learn that life goes on, and that we survive. And that death is a natural part of life. We realize our own mortality. We too will die one day. But nature and life go on. We are part of nature, we are part of life. It is a philosophical maturity that you acquire.
Maybe to move forward we need to go back. In ancient times there were these awarenesses that we have lost. Return to nature, to the harmony of the planet. Maybe too much “civilization” has killed us.
We confuse civilization with technology. Technology is not civilization. I believe that animals are more civilized than humans. Civilization is a cultural concept, not a technological one. It is not living in an apartment and defeating the winter. It is respecting life. Respecting the freedom of others. It is eating consciously. Not wasting. It is using but not abusing. It is coexisting. These are concepts that belong to civilization.
Do you see a soul when you look at animals? What do you see? There is their emotional universe, their difference in personality…
They are full of feelings. When I communicate with people I don’t feel the same things. People have lost their feelings. Stop anyone on the street and ask them what they feel. They will tell you what they think, not what they feel. Intelligence is overestimated. Talking about emotions, feelings, is so rare that people no longer know what they feel. Many cannot say what they feel, they know what they think. Intelligence is an advantage, but it is not the only thing. Humans do not transmit emotions to me, they do not transmit them to themselves. Instead, when I communicate with animals I only go through emotions. They are made of emotions, feelings. They are friends, they have a pure heart. How bad can an animal be? Even lions that attack gazelles do it only to eat, they never kill for fun like we do. How bad can a human be? There is no limit to our wickedness. We do terrible things to other men, to nature, to animals… We kill animals, we imprison them, we torture them. We make them our property, our objects. We think we can do whatever we want to them.
Being with animals is a privilege towards evolution, it is a path. For those who see, who are awake.
I am pessimistic about the future of humanity. We are becoming less civilized, more modern, technological, we are turning into unaware robots. Cogito in Latin has a double meaning. Intelligence but also connection between heart and mind. Cogito ergo sum. I exist because I am conscious. Not only because I think, because I am intelligent.
People in contact with nature develop a special intuition. It can be the look of a dog, a mountain, the desert…
Bravo. They wake up through the love of an animal. Love is the key. It is easier to love animals because they are so innocent. It is easier through them to open with the key this door to secret knowledge and be “initiated”. Love is the key to this initiation. To love someone, to love a god, to love art. Love. It doesn’t matter what, what matters is to love. To love a dog, or a horse, is very easy. Sorry, I’m very excited, I didn’t expect these questions… Animals are catalysts, and they make things easy and fast. If you love them, you evolve. And your intuition reveals the secrets to you, not your intelligence.
In the Middle Ages there was a monk, Bernard of Clairvaux, who told his students that they would learn much more from trees than from books. Books are suitable for the intellect, but the path opens with direct presence. Animals are teachers.
We are destroying nature. Animals do not do it. They are much more valuable than we are.
They are the connection to our origin. We have forgotten where we came from. They remind us. Yes, they tell us who we are and who we were. And who we should be again. Can you leave a message now? What would you say to this lost humanity?
Maybe nature is tired of us and is trying to free itself. Maybe we are like a cancer.
A virus…
Sometimes nature destroys a virus by destroying itself. And revitalizing itself. There are many myths about it. Maybe we deserve our own destruction. Maybe mother nature will find a way.
You said something important that we always forget. Mother. Mother nature. We are killing our mother. Pachamama, as they call her in South America. That’s the point. Humans are the only species that is not aware of this. We have technology and we believe that we are not part of nature, but its masters.
We are all part of nature. We need to understand this philosophical fact. Philosophy, love of wisdom. This is the knowledge, the wisdom that we should discover and allow. The knowledge that nature is ourselves, and we are all connected. We are all one. Maybe sometimes animals look at us and think that we are really ignorant, lost in our ego.
Love is the message. Yes, it is all about love. And they help us, because in this we are so poor inside…
Bravo. We are poor, we lack love. We have lost love on our path to “civilization”. So these so-called uncivilized people are actually more civilized beings, and they give us what we lack.
Thank you for your presence. Saving a life is saving the world.
Thank you…I feel embarrassed when I receive these compliments! I like to be appreciated, of course, But what I do is something I cannot do without. For me it is like seeing children killed and tortured without doing anything. I cannot see abandoned animals and do nothing. It is a shock to me to see people who don’t do what we do. How can you not do it? How can you not help animals? Wake up! Many more people love animals than those who do not love them and treat them badly. But many need this call.
I thank you with all my heart for this conversation.
Thank you!