The Turkish Van is a semi-long-haired, standardised breed of domestic cat, which was developed during the 1950s in the United Kingdom from a selection of cats obtained from various cities of modern-day Turkey, especially southeast Turkey. this is due to the expression of the white spotting gene, a type of partial leucism.]]
In 1955, two British photographers, Laura Lushington and Sonia Halliday, while on assignment in Turkey for the Turkish Ministry of Tourism, were given two unrelated cats in Turkey, which Lushington took home with her and allowed to mate. When the offspring came out identical to their parents – chalk white with dark tail and head markings – she set to establishing a standardised breed, originally named Turkish cat, later Turkish Van, and having it recognised by the British cat fancy organisations. Lushington returned to Turkey to find another pair, with the goal of breeding to the standard "three clear generations". It is unclear why the name "Turkish Van" was chosen, or why one of the original 1955 kittens was named Van Iskenderun Guzelli, given their provenance. Of the founding 1955 pair, Lushington wrote, in 1977: