The animal name changes in Turkey is the revision of taxonomic nomenclature of three

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The name changes removed references to

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

in the

taxonomic 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme of classes (a taxonomy) and the allocation ...

nomenclature of subspecies of each animal.

La Recherche ''La Recherche'' is a monthly French language popular science magazine covering recent scientific news. It is published by the Société d'éditions scientifiques (the ''Scientific Publishing Group''), a subsidiary of Financière Tallandier. Tallan ...

Numéros 393 à 398 Société d'éditions scientifiques (Paris, France) - 2006 - Page 96 "Ovis Armeniana devient Ovis Orientalis Anatolicus, Capreolus Capreolus Armenius se transforme en Capreolus Caprelus Capreolus, et Vulpes Vulpes Kurdistanicum, le renard roux du Kurdistan, s'appelle désormais en Turquie Vulpes ..." "The Ovis Armeniana (wild sheep) is now the Ovis Orientalis Anatolicus, while the roe deer, formerly known as Capreolus Capreolus Armenus, has become Capreolus Cuprelus Capreolus. These previous names have disappeared thanks to ..."

History and reaction

The declared taxonomic nomenclature for the three subspecies is effective for the Turkish Environment and Forestry Ministry. According to a statement released by the same ministry on March 4, 2005, the original names were divisive and contradicted "Turkish unity". Some Turkish officials have said that the original taxonomic nomenclature was intended in bad faith to imply that Armenians and Kurds resided in the areas where the animals lived. However, only the scientific names of the animals were changed.

Andrew Polaszek Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

, the executive secretary of the

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries. Orga ...

, the organization responsible for establishing species naming conventions, has said in an interview that acceptance of the revised names would depend upon article publications in

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

s, but that they were otherwise acceptable from a scientific viewpoint.

Revised taxonomic nomenclature

These changes currently affect only official taxonomic nomenclature usage by the Turkish government.

References

{{Turkish nationalism Fauna of Turkey Fauna of Europe Anti-Armenian sentiment in Turkey Anti-Kurdish sentiment Environment of Turkey Linguistic purism Turkish language Turkish nationalism Society of Turkey Xenophobia Zoological nomenclature

History and reaction

Revised taxonomic nomenclature

See also

References