The G20 summit is taking place in Antalya, Turkey, this year, but some interesting individuals decided to crash the summit before it got underway. Before major world leaders began arriving, some stray cats decided they would try and steal the spotlight. That’s right, a small group of cats crashed the G20 summit.
These cats crashed the G20 summit and loved it:
One could consider the cats a security breach, since these cats crashed the G20 summit by sneaking passed security. Some people appeared on Twitter saying that the cats were really extra security, rather than gate-crashers. Others complained that the summit wasn’t being held in “Catstantinople,” according to an Australian news source.
Turkey gives a certain reverence to cats
Stray cats in Turkey enjoy a status that they don’t here in the U.S. Universities, rescue groups, and everyday people put out food and water for them. They’re beneficiaries of Facebook campaigns that gather supplies for them. President Obama, in a visit to Turkey’s capital a few years ago, stopped to pet a tabby cat.
Here in the U.S., strays and ferals receive care, but there is a deepening rift between caregivers and rescue groups, and people who just want cats exterminated. Despite that, if cats crashed the G20 summit as it was being held in the U.S., we’d hear cheers and laughter, and maybe some halfhearted jeers. Unless you’re a hardcore cat-hater, it’s hard not to find the humor in cats crashing a major world summit like that.
In Turkey, cats are regularly caught, neutered and then released. Turkey’s policy is TNR, as they work to further animal rights and uphold Muslim tradition. Catster says that, according to legend, a cat stopped a poisonous snake from biting the Prophet Muhammed. That’s why cats are held in such high regard there.
However, the animals aren’t totally safe. There are poisonings, which suggests there are people who just don’t care about the law.
So cats crashed the G20 summit, and it was cute and hilarious. Perhaps they’ll be invited to stay and participate in the proceedings, or at least provide extra security.
