I am Mustafa Mutlu… I do not comply with this law!

The proposal providing for the killing of stray animals without owners has passed the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and become law with the votes of AKP and MHP members.

Regarding the proposal, MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, who had said, “The Turkish nation loves animals and accepts dogs as friends. It will stand against any kind of wrong applied to dogs. The MHP will also do what is necessary,” has, as usual, swallowed his words.

Thus, the “naive” citizens who trusted and pinned their hopes on the MHP and Devlet Bahçeli have been disappointed once again.

Oh; and by the way…

Let us not forget the opposition parties, especially the CHP. They also engaged in “pretend opposition” on this issue.

They did not organize nationwide protests to ensure that public anger forced the government to take a step back.

In other words; they acted extremely timidly.

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So; what will happen now?

You know the legal procedure. The Constitutional Court, or if that fails, the European Court of Human Rights…

Since the subject directly concerns “life,” no one can kill a single dog until the Constitutional Court makes a ruling on this matter.

If they do kill, and a cancellation decision comes from the Constitutional Court, the local administrators who made the decision to kill and the veterinarians who carried it out will be in big trouble…

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As for me…

I am not interested in any of this. Whether the Constitutional Court, which has completely come under the control of the government, says this or that, or whether the law has entered into force or not; I do not even care…

Yes, it is a law, so what?

I am not complying, my friend!

I am exercising my right to civil disobedience.

What is civil disobedience?

Let me explain:

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An attempt to create legal consequences within a democratic legal order by creating public opinion through entirely peaceful methods, without resorting to violence against any injustice.

There is absolutely no bloodshed in acts of civil disobedience.

This concept, introduced to world literature in the 19th Century by the American author Henry David Thoreau with his manifesto titled ‘Resistance to Civil Government’, inspired many people such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Rosa Parks.

Henry David Thoreau, who introduced the concept to the history of world resistance, fought throughout his life against all the actions of the political power regarding slavery, human rights violations, and war.

He refused to pay taxes, opposing the enslavement of Black people to provide financial support to the government. He was thrown into prison.

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In an act of civil disobedience, the entire legal order is not rejected.

It is only foreseen not to comply with certain laws or articles of law.

The person who will perform this act also agrees to bear the legal consequences of breaking the law.

For example, the famous “Salt March” initiated by Gandhi to liberate India from British rule falls within this scope.

When the British administration, which wanted to create a profitable monopoly, banned salt production, Gandhi and his friends began producing salt by evaporating seawater and broke the law.

Just as he expected, he was thrown into prison.

Hundreds, thousands of people followed him.

The prisons were packed to the brim.

The British administration, not wanting to risk Gandhi, who had started a hunger strike in prison, dying in their hands, released him. However, Gandhi broke the law again and went back to prison. Eventually, it turned into a cat-and-mouse game, and the administration had to repeal the law.

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One of the important names who contributed to the concept of civil disobedience with his anti-racist ideas and actions in America was Martin Luther King (1929-1968).

Martin Luther King organized the ‘March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom’. In his famous speech that began with ‘I have a dream’ to the 250 thousand people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963, he shouted, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character!” and he broke the laws.

However, the popular movement that began with his words was crowned with the abolition of slavery two years later.

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One more example:

In America, due to the Jim Crow Laws, racial segregation in the south manifested itself even on public buses; the front rows of the buses belonged to white people, and there were designated seats for Black people in the back. In fact, when the seats designated for white passengers were full, Black people had to give up their seats and get off the bus if necessary.

The passive resistance of Rosa Parks, who spoke out against this discrimination and mobilized thousands of people, resulted in millions joining her and the abolition of these racist practices.

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In Turkey, the teachers' boycott organized by the Teachers' Union of Turkey, of which my father was also a member, in 1969, was recorded as the first act of civil disobedience.

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I have gone on too long.

I am Mustafa Mutlu, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey, born in Kırşehir on February 9, 1961, son of Duran and Bedriye…

I am reporting myself here to all authorized bodies:

I will do my best to ensure that the law regarding the killing of dogs is not implemented.

I will block the municipal teams collecting the dogs, and if necessary, I will lie in front of the buildings where the executions will take place to stop the veterinarians who accept killing them with needles and thus are in betrayal of their profession.

I declare that I will oppose the new law by committing these crimes (!).

I invite all true dog-loving people to join this act of civil disobedience.

I refuse to be a partner to such a human disgrace and to remain a spectator!