page_title: Turkish Angora
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Turkish Angora / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The picture shows a white Turkish Angora cat, odd-eyed-
context_page_description: The Turkish Angora is a breed of domestic cat. Turkish Angoras are one of the ancient, natural breeds of cat, having originated in central Turkey, in the Ankara region. The breed has been documented as early as the 17th century and is believed to be the origin of the mutations for both the color white and long hair. The breed is also sometimes referred to as simply the Angora or Ankara cat.
context_section_description: Like all domestic cats, Turkish Angoras descended from the African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica). Their ancestors were among the cats that were first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. Cats from eastern mountainous regions of Anatolia developed into longhaired breeds like the Turkish Van and the Turkish Angora through inbreeding and natural selection.
  Longhaired cats were imported to Britain and France from Asia Minor, Persia and Russia as early as the late 16th century, though there are indications that they appeared in Europe as early as the 14th century due to the Crusades . The Turkish Angora was used to improve the coat on the Persian, almost to the point of extinction. The Turkish Angora was recognized as a distinct breed in Europe by the 17th century. However, there is a strong connection between Angoras and  Persians. Charles Catton, in his 1788 book Animals Drawn from Nature and Engraved in Aqua-tinta, gave "Persian cat" and "Angora cat" as alternative names for the same breed.
  The Persian cat was developed from Turkish angora mutations by British and American cat fanciers. Although some cat associations think the Persian cat is a natural breed, in the 19th century Persians and Angoras were identical. In 1903, F. Simpson wrote in her book The Book of the Cat:
  "In classing all long-haired cats as Persians I may be wrong, but the distinctions, apparently with hardly any difference, between Angoras and Persians are of so fine a nature that I must be pardoned if I ignore the class of cat commonly called Angora, which seems gradually to have disappeared from our midst.  Certainly, at our large shows there is no special classification given for Angoras, and in response to many inquiries from animal fanciers I have never been able to obtain any definite information as to the difference between a Persian and an Angora cat."
  The Angora of the 20th century was used for improvement in the Persian coat, but the type has always been divergent from the Persian – particularly as the increasingly flat-faced show cat Persian has been developed in the last few decades.
  In the early 20th century, Ankara Zoo began a breeding program to protect and preserve pure white Angora cats.  The zoo particularly prized odd-eyed specimens (i.e., with one blue and one amber eye); however the cats were chosen only by their color (white)—no other criterion was used. Despite the lack of selective breeding and no consideration given for the deafness problem, Ankara Zoo cats have a very similar type.
  The Turkish Angora, which was brought to Canada in 1963, was accepted as a championship pedigreed breed in 1973 by the Cat Fanciers' Association. However, until 1978 only white Angoras were recognized. Today, all North American registries accept the Turkish Angora in many colors and patterns. While numbers are still relatively small, the gene pool and base of fanciers are growing.
  Breeders in Turkey feel that the cat fancy’s fine-boned version of their national breed is unrepresentative of the true Turkish cats, which are much sturdier. American “Turkish” Angoras may have only a minimal remnant of the original Ankara Zoo DNA and are only “purebred on paper".
caption: Turkish Angora with odd eyes
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 700D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Photos 1.5", "Image DateTime": "2014:11:10 01:56:31", "Image ExifOffset": "192", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:11:10 01:56:31", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:11:10 01:56:31", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "53/8", "EXIF ApertureValue": "27/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "453/247", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Spot", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "50", "EXIF SubSecTime": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3682", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3374", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "202953/35", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "104201/18", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "403075017761", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[50, 50, 0, 0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF50mm f/1.8 II", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000000000"}