Zoopolis: Interspecies Relations in Istanbul, Past and Present

On Tuesday, 18 November, Hayvanât hosted a panel titled “ZOOPOLIS: Interspecies Relations in Istanbul, Past and Present”, organized in collaboration with the Turkish American Association for Scientific Studies (Türk Amerikan İlmi Araştırmalar Derneği) and the Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED).

Following the opening remarks by Emeritus Prof. Dr. Alan Duben, the panel moderator Cihangir Gündoğdu (Department of History, Istanbul Bilgi University) took the floor. Speaking on behalf of the Hayvanât team, Gündoğdu invited the audience to approach Istanbul as a historically multi-species city.

Can Nacar (Department of History, Koç University) discussed how the sheep brought to Istanbul for slaughter in the late Ottoman Empire can be understood as another form of migrant labor in the city. He noted that the flocks driven from Kabataş pier to the livestock markets in Okmeydanı and then to the slaughterhouses in Tophane were key actors in Istanbul’s traffic and daily life.

Emir Küçük (Atatürk Institute, Boğaziçi University) examined the horses used by the Dersaadet Tramway Company, showing that they constituted both the company’s capital and its labor force. He reminded the audience that the tramway horses—through their stables, fodder, illnesses, and manure—were inseparable elements of Istanbul’s urban landscape.

Özlem Güçlü (Department of Sociology, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University) drew on Serge Avedikian’s films Chienne d’histoire and Histoire de chiens to underline how, from the 1910 Hayırsızada massacre to the present, humans and dogs have co-constructed urban life in Istanbul. Emphasizing the continuity of what Mine Yıldırım calls the policy of “decaninization”, Güçlü argued that this policy renders women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and dogs more vulnerable by pushing them out of public spaces and depriving them of protection. She noted that genuine coexistence is only possible through interspecies care and compassion.

After the presentations, Gündoğdu thanked the panelists and highlighted that urban history has long been dominated by a speciesist perspective. He emphasized that animal studies offers new pathways of research for urban historiography. The panel concluded with a lively question-and-answer session.