Abdullah Kaya

Van Cat Villa, a sanctuary dedicated to preserving the unique Van cat breed, is celebrating the birth of its first kittens of 2024 as two mother cats give birth to a total of five healthy kittens, marking the start of the breeding season at the facility.

The proliferation of gazebos and sheds within the southern province of Antalya's sea turtle breeding areas continues to skyrocket, defying demolition orders and raising the alarm, as their local population is anticipated to increase to an estimated 5,000 during Eid.

The "Van Cat Villa," which houses numerous domestic cats in the eastern province, has welcomed more than 90,000 visitors in five months, giving a boost to the local tourism.

The Van cats, famous for their different eye colors and pure white fur, are meticulously taken care of at the "Van Cat Villa" located on the Yüzüncü Yıl University campus.

A total of 130 kittens were born in the Van Cat Villa, a center in the eastern province of Van where rare Van cats are put under protection, in a year, Demirören News Agency has reported.

Van cats are domestic cats found in the Lake Van region that are famous for having heterochromia (one eye blue and the other amber in color).

Turkish Red Crescent teams have arrived at the Romanian-Ukrainian border to coordinate humanitarian efforts to help people fleeing their country following the Russian attack on Ukraine.

The Red Crescent teams deployed at the Siret border crossing between Romania and Ukraine in the city of Suceava in Romania are working together with the International Red Crescent.

 The 4th Van Cat Beauty Contest was held by the Van Yüzüncü Yıl University (YYU) at the weekend as part of a shopping fest in the city. A Van cat named Spak was the winner of the contest. YYU Van Cat Research and Application Center Director Professor Abdullah Kaya said the event was held to promote Van cats and create awareness of this species of cats.

A cat at Yüzüncü Yıl University's (YYU) Van Cat Research and Application Center has given birth to three kittens through caesarian section. 

The center started using the practices of caesarian section for Van cats, with distinctive white fur and two eyes of different color, that cannot give birth naturally for various reasons. 

Experts at a university center in the eastern province of Van are attempting to preserve the famous Van cat breed by implementing a new chip system that will facilitate the tracking and maintenance of the all-white felines.

The Van Cat Track System was initiated last year by the Yüzüncü Yıl University (YYU) Van Cat Research and Application Center to ensure the cats' pedigree.

Van cats, which are the most important living cultural beings of the eastern province of Van, have received great interest for their white fur and eyes of two different colors. 

The famous cats of the eastern province of Van appear set to escape extinction thanks to the efforts of the Van Cat Research and Application Center, which was formed under the auspices of Van Yüzüncü Yıl University in the 1990s.