The Turkish Van is a rare breed with ancient roots and distinctive and
unique appearance. It is perhaps one of the oldest of cats, emanating from a
beautiful yet rugged landscape and is highly prized in its native country.

The original home of the Turkish Van cat is the area around Lake Van in
Eastern Turkey. This is a mountainous terrain where volcanoes once erupted,
whose craggy natural beauty inspired the Armenian proverb ‘Van in this world
paradise in the next’. At 5,260 feet above sea level Van is a land of
changes: it can be baking hot in the summer and bitterly cold in the winter.
The lake itself has no natural outlet so is salty, alkaline and inhospitable
to the point that only one tough species of fish can survive in its waters.
However it is famous for the mysterious lake monster reputed to dwell in its
depths: the Van Golu Canavan.

The Van region borders Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Georgia and Syria. Throughout
history the borders defining this tight cluster of countries have shifted.
Van was an Armenian area until the great Armenian genocide of World War One.
Today it is a Kurdish area and the local culture is very different and often
much more traditional than the more modern and European-facing cities such
as Ankara and Istanbul in Western Turkey. The people of Van have much pride
in their Kurdish identity, in spite of the fact that the Kurdish language,
spoken by many in Van, is strongly prohibited by the Turkish government.
This has led the Van cat to be claimed as a cultural icon for both the
Armenians and the Kurds, as well as the Turks.

Local legend states that the cats present on Noah’s ark were Turkish Vans
and indeed Mount Ararat, where the legendary boat struck land, is Turkey’s
highest mountain and located just north of Van.

Historical reports of longhaired cats from this part of the world show that
it was probably the first place where the long hair gene became apparent.
The more lightly built Turkish Angora from Western Turkey and the
thick-coated Persian are two other ancient long haired breeds from near by.
As far back as 1600 BC Hittite and Urartu jewellery and armour found in
Eastern Turkey depict pale long haired cats with plumed tails showing rings
of colour, telling us that the Turkish Van’s ancestors had a long history in
the area.

The development of the Turkish Van as a modern pedigree breed dates back to
1955 when Laura Lushington and Sonia Halliday were visiting Eastern Turkey
as part of their jobs working for the tourist board. They saw white & auburn
cats with the markings that are now universally referred to as ‘van pattern’
with colour restricted to just the head and tail. They greatly admired them
and were given an unrelated breeding pair: Stambul Byzantium and Iskenderun
Guzelli. They returned to England with the cats and were delighted to see
that when they produced a litter of kittens they ‘bred true’ and all the
kittens resembled their parents. They decided to start a breeding programme,
initially just calling the breed the Turkish.

Starting with just two cats was obviously not a large enough gene pool to
base an entire breed on so further cats were sought, the first of which were
Burdur and Anatalya Anatolia, who were imported in 1959. During the 1960s
the breeders were joined by Lydia and Noel Russell of Kastamonou cats; Noel
was a sea captain in the merchant navy and regularly sailed in the
Mediterranean, so he was tasked with finding more white & auburn van
patterned cats in Turkey. He brought home two new females in 1979 who added
some fresh blood to the gene pool; these were Benek Kadikoylu Ikingi and
Cicek Modali Ucingi.

After the breed gained full championship recognition in the 1970s the first
cats to gain challenge certificates, which count towards becoming a champion
were a male and a female both bred by Laura Lushington: Van Yildirim and
Van Fethlye.

During the 1980s the breed’s popularity increased and it spread to other
countries. While this was good for the Turk’s profile and development it did
pose new challenges to those new breeders who needed fresh blood lines. Some
new imports were sourced from Turkey and for the first time colours other
than auburn were seen. A Swedish breeder called Mrs Bjorkmann, who had lived
in Turkey, took home eleven cats and colours such as white & black and white
& tortie started to be seen. Initially these other colours were just bred
experimentally and were not eligible to be shown at cat shows, but when used
for breeding they were able to produce white & auburn kittens. Some breeders
referred to these as ‘second hand’ lines, but they helped to bring about
more genetic diversity.

The mid 1980s saw two important changes for the breed: firstly Laura
Lushington retired from breeding and gave up the use of her breeding prefix
‘Van’. After this a decision was made to change the breed’s official name
from Turkish to Turkish Van, partly to better reflect the breed’s origins,
partly to differentiate it from the Turkish Angora, and partly to honour
Lushington’s role as breed founder and pioneer. The second change was the
recognition of white & cream Turkish Vans; kittens of this more delicate
colouration had occasionally occurred in Van litters, due to the presence of
the dilute gene, and breeders felt that they should be embraced as part of
the breed.

During the 1990s a variety of new bloodlines was imported to the UK from
Europe and America and these included the new colours. A key cat from among
these imports was Mr and Mrs Hughes USA-born white & tortie queen called
Riorojo Texas Rose. As these alternative colours became more popular
breeders began to encourage them until in June 2000 a range of new colours
was granted official recognition.

This gave ten different colour possibilities: Auburn, Cream, Black, Blue,
Tortie, Blue Tortie, Brown Tabby, Blue Tabby, Tortie Tabby, Blue Tortie
Tabby. All of these marking are always overlaid on a predominantly white
coat. The ten varieties triple to thirty when the different eye colours are
factored into the equation. Eyes may be blue, amber, or most prized of all,
odd eyes with one of each colour.

The coat itself must be a pure, clean, chalky white with a silky texture. It
is a light, non-matting coat, however, as befits the extreme changes of the
climate of Van, it varies from a light single coat in the summer to a much
longer, thicker coat in the winter.

The ideal Van head is a broad wedge shape with gentle contours, a medium
length nose and prominent cheekbones. The ears should be moderately large,
but within proportion, and set fairly high on the head, not necessarily
following the line of the wedge. The moderately large oval eyes are clear,
alert and expressive with rims which may be a delicate pink. The profile
view is straightish with just a slight dip below eye level. Males are larger
than females, although both have a body that is sturdy and long with well
developed muscles and a broad, deep chest. The neck and shoulder are also
muscular and the body tapers slightly towards the pelvis. The legs are
medium long and muscular with large, rounded feet. If this body type were
transposed onto a human you would have a swimmer’s build. This is all
finished off with the panache of a fulsome brush of a tail, well coated with
a plume of long hair.

Top show quality cats have symmetrical markings with colour from the base to
the tip of the tail, and colour on the head limited to the areas above the
eyes and the top and back of the skull. Some small spots of colour are
acceptable on the body, but at least 80% of the cat should be white. Pet
quality cats may have more random patterns with less symmetry and a greater
proportion of colour.

Turkish Vans are characterful cats and their active dispositions and naughty
antics will come as a surprise to anyone who assumes that long haired cats
are always quiet and lazy. They are companionable and dog-like, enjoying
following their owners around or sitting close to them. They sometimes have
a stubborn streak and mothers with kittens can be defensive to the point of
causing friction with other cats. They can also be clumsy, and although they
are large they may try to squeeze onto small shelves, so ornaments should be
stuck down.

The best known and most idiosyncratic aspect of their personalities is their
liking for water. While most cats will passionately avoid getting wet Vans
have such a fascination for water that some have even been known to take to
it for a dip. When the breed was first introduced to the UK images of the
cats swimming led to them being dubbed ‘the swimming cats’. Perhaps the
breed’s development in Turkey with its hot summers and in an area with many
streams and tributaries leading towards Lake Van encouraged them to get wet
in the pursuit of coolness and possibly also the odd fish. Even those Vans
who aren’t prepared to dive in will still take great pleasure in playing
with dripping taps and water fountains. Some will step into their water
bowls and tread wet footprints through the house. One Van show cat was known
to ask for a bowl of water after returning from a show which she would sit
in for a soak for ten minutes or so before getting out and having a good
wash.

The Turkish Van is a well-known breed of great beauty, and yet in spite of
this it remains a rare treasure with less than a hundred registered in the
UK each year. It deserves greater popularity, so if you fancy a handsome cat
who might join you for a relaxing bath and then run off with your sponge you
could not do better than to look for a Turk!

Breed Standards
  FIFe | CFA | TICA