The Voice Of Silent Women 'DEQ TATTO"

Throughout history, tattoos have borne the mark of old belief systems such as paganism, shamanism and Zoroastrianism as well as other cultural practices. Dating back to the Neolithic ages, tattooing has different connotations in different cultures. A symbol of status or religious beliefs and regarded in some cultures as engravings on the human body for therapeutic reasons and the treatment of rheumatism or arthritis, the art of tattooing has evolved in terms of method and reason over thousands of years.

In the lands where Kurds have lived for years, mostly in northern Syria and southeastern Turkey, a type of tattoo called "deq" has become a symbol that expresses the voices and emotions of the women who wear it, rather than its meaning.

Kurdish women who wear these symbols on their faces, hands and feet do not have a single reason for doing so.  Some wear them for luck, some for fertility, some for healing, and some as an expression of the pain they have experienced in life.

Some of the symbols have special meanings, but most of them take on a meaning with the woman who wears them.

The first time I met someone with a Deq tattoo, I was quite surprised. It had a different color than a normal tattoo and it looked like it was fused with the skin. It was like a birthmark that had been on his body since he was born. As a result of my research, I learned that the deq tattoo has been made with a mixture of breast milk and kerosene lamp soot since ancient times, and for this reason, it is believed that it will not be erased for life and that these substances are thought to be good for the person who has it.

It's really fascinating and the most meaningful part for me is that the silence of women who have endured so many hardships for so many years has turned into a scream in their bodies. They want to show their screams, their words, their voices through symbols.

Each symbol has a meaning and each meaning has a real story.