Speaking of Tattoos
The rise in the number of Ataturk-signature tatoos here--a deliberate protest gesture--is interesting:
According to Garcia, whose mother is Turkish and father Spanish, the signature comes from the document Ataturk signed to abolish the old Arabic-based Ottoman alphabet for Turkey to start using the Latin-based one; a well-understood step to make Turkey more similar to Europe.
“Sixty per cent of the people that get the tattoo don’t have any others,” he said. “They don’t usually like tattoos, but they like this sign so it has to be small and it has to be somewhere special.”
Most people request the tattoo on their arm or hand. Others prefer it over their heart.
“You know we have two types of people here in Turkey,” Garcia said. “The people that adore Ataturk and the ones that adore fundamentalism. I think it’s a great tattoo for anyone that wants to give a message.”
I haven't met Danny yet, but he's a fixture on the Istanbul animal-rescue circuit: he also does a bustling line in cat tattoos. (Tattoos that look like cats, that is, not tattoos for cats.)
- Comment (3)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (1)
Comments :
Jul '10
Re: Speaking of Tattoos
I'm glad to see this. It's hard to overstate the importance of Ataturk to modern Turkish identity. When my parents were stationed in Ankara, my mom always said that to the Turks, Ataturk was like "George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John F. Kennedy rolled into one." That always seemed about right.
It's been years since I was in Turkey, but I remember the clocks on display on store shelves were always set to the exact time of Ataturk's death. Do they still do that?
Re: Speaking of Tattoos
Nope. Or if they do, I haven't noticed.
May '10
Re: Speaking of Tattoos
Very encouraging, not least because it appeals to the young. It's hip. In Europe--so I've read--there is a trend that children of Muslim immigrants are often more devout or "hardcore" than their parents. Nice to see those Turkish youth getting on board with secularism.