The Turkish Van is a bree of cat native to the rugged mountains of the Lake Van region in Eastern Turkey. Originally called the Turkish Cat, the name was changed in 1979 in the U.S. ( 1985 in the U.K.) to Turkish Van to better distance the breed from the Turkish Angora cat which had its origins around Ankara, in central Turkey. Traditionally, in the cat fancy, Turkish Vans are recognized as patterned cats with color restricted to the head and tail with the body of the cat being white. Historically, in Turkey, solid white is also the color for the Van Kedisi, which some consider to be synonymous with the Turkish Van.[Quotation needed from source]