Tarkan feels sorry for butterflies on display

Tarkan visited the exhibition, titled “Kozanın Dönüşümü” (Transformation of Cocoon), by Lepidopterist Oktay Onaran at the airport yesterday before a flight to Paris.

“Do they catch these animals alive and display them after killing? I suppose they do, because their colors may fade otherwise,” the artist told reporters.

Expressing his admiration for the butterflies on display, Tarkan said the exhibition serves a good purpose if it aims to attract people’s attention to their destroyed natural habitat. “We must do our best to protect nature and these beauties. But seeing them dead still made me sad. On the exhibition’s information board it says these butterflies completed their life spans. If it is otherwise, I would be really upset. In the information it is said they are going to become extinct this generation and they must be protected,” he said.

Also speaking about the world’s oldest known spa settlement, Allianoi, which is at risk of being submerged, Tarkan said it is very important to protect the Allianoi ruins. The singer has been actively involved civil society efforts to protect Allianoi.

“These beauties are what make Turkey. As they are destroyed one by one, the identity and personality of the country is also destroyed. We have one more struggle. I hope [the ancient city of] Hasankeyf -- which is under threat of being submerged due to the construction of a dam -- will be saved,” he said.