Tattooed Rebellion

Getting a tattoo, or “inked”, is often the international sign of rebellion from teenagers in heartland of America to “twenty somethings” splat right in the middle of London. However, using permanent ink painfully etched onto a patch of otherwise pristine skin is not only a way to add a bit of color to a chosen body part, it is also an excellent way to air your political views and or beliefs.

One country that is seeing an upsurge in politically charged “tats” is in Turkey. More and more Turkish people, from all walks of life and socio-economic standings, are emblazoning their appendages with the signature of the controversial Turkish trailblazer Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who made Turkey the secular nation it is today. The tattoo reads simply enough “K.Ataturk” in a scripted text.

The history behind the specific Ataturk signature that is used for the tattoos is as politically charged as the man himself. According to popular belief, it was the same signage that Ataturk used when he signed legislation to annihilate the Ottoman alphabet, which was in classical Arabic, in favor of a Latin alphabet that was in line with secular European nations.

The upsurge in the popular signature tattoo has everything to do with the Turkish governments recent decision to make changes to the constitution, which several Ataturk loyalists see as a means to the end of erasing the legacy of Ataturk completely. Apparently, the widespread belief amongst most Turks is that The Justice and Development Party (AKP) is trying to turn the secular country into a purely Islamic one.

The resistance to the AKP is so fierce in Turkey, that many tattoo parlors offer discounted prices for the Ataturk tattoo and some offer it entirely for free. Apparently the price for government-supported religious freedom is a price that some people are willing to pay for in blood.

Source: Al-Arabiya