I received the famous photo of Tombili, now a meme for cat lovers everywhere, by email from a Greek friend. He said, “This is the spirit of the Aegean, not just chilling but always ready to take on the world.” It was a photo of a chubby, white-bellied cat with one arm hugging the pavement as if he were imitating a man. The photo became an instant hit on social media, shared thousands of times with captions, comments and add-on images such as raki (the anise-scented traditional alcoholic beverage of Turkey) glasses, worry beads, teacups and backgammon sets.
Witty captions paired with the famous Tombili photo gave people smiles even in the most distressed times. For example, after Gezi Park protesters were brutally attacked by police and everyone was asking who gave the order, Tombili’s photos circulated on social media with the caption, “I gave the order.” It was a satirical and smooth way of handling Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan's having told cheering crowds, “I gave the order to the police.” Later, the "I gave the order" cat meme became a phenomenon in Turkey as several other harsh orders for crackdowns came in, and the public was not sure how to handle them. Hence, Tombili’s rowdy pose became one of the most potent mediums for dark satire in Turkey. After all, who can dismiss a cat with such a carefree pose?
