Change and transformation in Büyükada from the 1980s to the present in the frame of the phaeton debates

Since the second half of the 19th century, the Prince Islands have been symbolised by horse-drawn carriages. Problems started to occur in horse-drawn carriages on the islands after 1980. The social movement led by animal rights defenders brought horse-drawn carriages, whose problems could not be solved, to public attention in 2010 on the grounds of cruelty to horses, and made them an important issue of public opinion with actions and campaigns after 2014. During the Life Watch action that the social movement started at the end of 2019, the use of horse-drawn carriages ended in the Prince Islands at the beginning of 2020. This research aims to analyse how the use of horse-drawn carriages in the Princes' Islands came to an end by focusing on Büyükada after 1980 through the social movement led by animal rights defenders. In the research analysis, which compiled its data with qualitative method, a dialogue was established with the theoretical and conceptual tools of animal rights, the analytical framework of the political opportunity approach from social movement theories was used, and the theoretical and conceptual tools of the cultural approach were used. The research findings reveal that the social movement, with its alliances, strategies and tactics, its determined struggle and its ability to use the political context that emerged in 2019, achieved the goal of abolishing horse-drawn carriages in the Prince Islands, but failed to save the horses from persecution.