[5] This may be the source of the popular, but possibly false or exaggerated,[13] belief that the formal Turkish Van breed is innately more fond of water than the average cat.

Lushington wrote: "Apart from their great capacity for affection and alert intelligence, their outstanding characteristic is their liking for water, not normally regarded as a feline attribute.

[17] As of 2018,[update] the centre housed about 350 young adults and kittens, is open to the public for a nominal entrance fee,[18] and cats can be adopted.

[3] Van cats are claimed as a cultural icon by Armenians, Kurds, and Turks, who have inhabited the region at different periods in history.

[2] At the end of the 19th century, Sultan Abdul Hamid II is said to have owned a Van cat, and having one is still seen as a status symbol: a Prime Minister of Turkey received one as a gift, and an ambassador from Greece put himself on a waiting list to get one.

Kittens from the breeding programme could be purchased for the equivalent of US$282 in 2011,[31][full citation needed] and the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (which also regulates livestock) does not control the export of these or any other cats from Turkey.

The cat appears in a locally published comic strip, and in the logos of bus companies, shopping centres, and various other Van businesses.

[citation needed] The mascot of the 2010 FIBA World Championship of basketball, hosted by Turkey, was an anthropomorphised Van cat named Bascat.

He had a white coat and odd eyes, one blue and one green, and his head was shaped with design cues from the crescent moon on the Turkish flag.