Şerafettin (Born: 2005; often shortened to Şero) is a

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

living in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, who resides in the headquarters of the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...

(CHP). He is famous for having a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account followed by more than 32 thousand people, though the real operator behind the account remains unknown. Şero is the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

of the CHP and is described as the 'standard

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

cat'. He is as a significant icon in

Turkish politics The politics of Turkey take place in the framework of a constitutional republic and presidential system, with various levels and branches of power. Turkey's political system is based on a separation of powers. Executive power is exercised by th ...

, constantly appearing on the news for outlandish and humorous political comments made on his Twitter account. Şero describes himself as the 'CHP's second-hand man', second only to party leader

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (born Kemal Karabulut, 17 December 1948) is a Turkish economist, retired civil servant and social democratic politician. He is leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and has been Leader of the Main Opposition in T ...

. His Twitter account identifies his job as 'eyeing Kılıçdaroğlu'.

History

Şero has lived at the CHP headquarters since it was built, and is assumed to have been born in 2005. His name, Şerafettin, comes from the Turkish comic book character ''Kötü Kedi Şerafettin'' (Bad Cat Şerafettin), which has similarities with the

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

character

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...

. His name was given to him by construction workers during the building's construction and is shortened to ''Şero''. In 2009, the CHP's expenditure on cat food and cat litter was declared illegal by the

Constitutional Court of Turkey The Constitutional Court of Turkey ( tr, , sometimes abbreviated as ''AYM'') is the highest legal body for constitutional review in Turkey. It "examines the constitutionality, in respect of both form and substance, of laws, decrees having the for ...

, which identified the expenditure on the cat as a misuse of party funds. Şero has often been sighted on live television during addresses from the CHP headquarters given by party leader

Deniz Baykal Deniz Baykal (born 20 July 1938) is a Turkish politician at the Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, abbreviated CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in ...

. More recently in 2015, Şero appeared on live television while

Ahmet Hakan Hakan Coşkun (born 11 August 1967) is a Turkish journalist and columnist, currently working at ''Hürriyet'', CNN Türk and Kanal D. He studied at Bursa Religious High School (Imam Hatip Lisesi) and then Bursa Divinity Faculty (Bursa Ilahiyat Fa ...

was interviewing party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. His appearance became popular on Twitter shortly after, prompting Hakan to address the issue of a 'cat walking around' during the interview. Şero has since become an easily identifiable mascot in Turkish politics. In 2008, Şero was taken to a feline hospital for 14 days after suffering from depression, urethral and kidney problems.

Elections

2014 local and presidential elections

On March 30, 2014,

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

were held throughout Turkey to elect municipal councillors, mayors and neighbourhood presidents. Large-scale electricity cuts and electoral fraud dominated the counting process. Energy minister

Taner Yıldız Taner Yıldız (born 3 April 1962 in Devecipınar, Boğazlıyan, Yozgat Province) is a Turkish politician. He is a member of the Justice and Development Party and served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources between 2009 and 2015. T ...

later attributed the nationwide power-cuts to cats entering

transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...

s, a statement which was initially assumed to be an

April Fool's joke April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

. The statement caused uproar amongst the opposition, with the CHP deputy leader

Gürsel Tekin Gürsel Tekin (born 6 January 1964 in Ardahan, Turkey) is a Turkish politician of Kurdish descent and vice-president of Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, abbreviated CHP). Biography Gürsel Tekin was born in Ardaha ...

calling on Şero to 'assemble the CHP's cat wing' to guard the transformers during the August 2014 presidential election that followed shortly after. Tekin's response to Yıldız was seen as an indication that the CHP did not take the minister's excuses for the power-cuts seriously and attributed them to aiding the government's vote-rigging efforts instead. Following Yıldız's remarks, Şero obtained the new nickname, 'the cat that didn't go into a transformer' ''(trafoya girmeyen kedi)''. On Twitter, Şero promised his first 2,000 followers CHP candidacies for municipal councillor positions for the 2014 local elections.

June 2015 general election

In response to the Supreme Electoral Council President Sadi Güven saying that they had 'rounded up all the cats' in preparation for the June 2015 general election, Şero tweeted 'I'm still here, come and round me up' in response. The tweet went viral shortly after and was reported by several media outlets. On 6 April 2015, a day before the CHP party candidates were announced, the candidates chosen by Kılıçdaroğlu were leaked on Şero's Twitter account. On 18 April, Şero predicted that the outcome of the election would be a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisl ...

and would result in a CHP coalition with the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

Animal rights

In October 2014, on

World Animal Day World Animal Day is an international day of action for animal rights and welfare celebrated annually on October 4, the feast day of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. The World Animal Day movement is supported and endorsed by a nu ...

, the CHP released a decree co-signed by

Veli Ağbaba Veli Ağbaba (born 3 April 1968) is a Turkish politician from the Republican People's Party (CHP), who has served as a Member of Parliament for Malatya since 12 June 2011. Early life and education Veli Ağbaba was born in Yazıhan, Malatya ...

and Şero (who had a paw-print) that urged municipalities to spend more of their budgets on the rehoming and rehabilitation stray animals. The decree urged municipalities to employ veterinarians, provide an ambulance service for animals injured in car accidents, bury dead animals and supply food and water in city corners for dehydrated animals during the summer.

References