Fatma Dogru (70) poses as she speaks about her tattoos at her home in Kisas village in southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Turkey, November 22, 2017. Picture taken November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
KIZILTEPPE, Turkey (Reuters) - When Ayse Yusufoglu was a girl, she and her friends in southeast Turkey tried to win the hearts of young men in their village using breast milk and soot.
Mixing the two ingredients, and wielding a simple needle, they applied traditional tattoos to their faces, legs and hands.
Ayse Yusufoglu (84) and her sister Duri Yusufoglu (82) show their relatives how to apply a tattoo at their home in Alakus village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 21, 2017. Picture taken November 21, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
"I was in love with a man, who later became my husband. I wanted him to find me beautiful," says the 84-year-old Yusufoglu. "Although the needle hurt badly, we young girls of 10 and 16 used to tattoo each other."
The girls tattooed simple designs from the world around them - the sun, the moon and household goods like a comb.
As was their custom, they collected the soot from the bottom of cooking pots used on wood fires, and mixed it with breast milk from a mother feeding an infant girl.
Hulu Aydogdu (87) poses as she speaks about her tattoos at her home in Kisas village in southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Turkey, November 22, 2017. Picture taken November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
"The milk of a mother nursing a girl is used because the tattoo made with this milk comes out a paler shade of green," 87-year-old Hulu Aydoglu says. "The milk of a mother nursing a boy comes out darker."
The tattoos are still visible on Yusufoglu's lined face 70 years on, but the practice is dying out.
Some women blame growing religious opposition to the practice in Turkey, saying preachers have told them the tattoos are a sin, but Yusufoglu says the traditional methods have just been overtaken.
Rabia Cimtay (75) poses as she speaks about her tattoos at her home in Kisas village in southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Turkey, November 22, 2017. Picture taken November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
"At that time, the tattoos were our make-up," she says. "Now there is make-up - and no need to make oneself beautiful with tattoos."
(Editing by Dominic Evans and Kevin Liffey)
Hedla Gocmen (62) poses as she shows her tattoos in front of her home in Dikmen village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 20, 2017. Picture taken November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasHedla Gocmen (62) rocks her granddaughter's cradle at their home in Dikmen village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 20, 2017. Picture taken November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasAyse Yusufoglu (84) poses as she speaks about her tattoos at her home in Alakus village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 21, 2017. Picture taken November 21, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasZehra Karaaslan (62) poses in front of her home in Dikmen village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 20, 2017. Picture taken November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasSenem Dogru (80) poses as she speaks about her tattoos at her home in Kisas village in southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Turkey, November 22, 2017. Picture taken November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasHatice Demircan (80) poses as she speaks about her tattoos at her home in Kisas village in southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Turkey, November 22, 2017. Picture taken November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasHulu Aydogdu (87) poses as she speaks about her tattoos at her home in Kisas village in southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Turkey, November 22, 2017. Picture taken November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasFatma Dogru (70) poses as she speaks about her tattoos at her home in Kisas village in southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Turkey, November 22, 2017. Picture taken November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasHedle Ertas (84) poses in her garden in Dikmen village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 20, 2017. Picture taken November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasAyse Yusufoglu (84) and her sister Duri Yusufoglu (82) laugh as they speak about their tattoos at their home in Alakus village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 21, 2017. Picture taken November 21, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasAyse Yusufoglu (84) and her sister Duri Yusufoglu (82) show their relatives how to apply a tattoo at their home in Alakus village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 21, 2017. Picture taken November 21, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasDuri Yusufoglu (82) poses as she speaks about her tattoos at her home in Alakus village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 21, 2017. Picture taken November 21, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasA combination picture shows women who have tattoos in Alakus and Dikmen villages near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin and in Kisas village near southeastern province of Sanliurfa, from pictures taken November 20, 21 and 22, 2017. Top row L-R: Ayse Yusufoglu (84), Senem Dogru (80), Hedle Ertas (84); bottom row L-R: Duri Yusufoglu (75), Hulu Aydogdu (87), Fatma Dogru (70) REUTERS/Umit BektasAyse Yusufoglu (84) poses as she speaks about her tattoos at her home in Alakus village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 21, 2017. Picture taken November 21, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasSenem Dogru (80) poses as she speaks about her tattoos at her home in Kisas village in southeastern province of Sanliurfa, Turkey, November 22, 2017. Picture taken November 22, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasA combination picture shows women who have tattoos on their faces in Alakus and Dikmen villages near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin and in Kisas village near southeastern province of Sanliurfa, from pictures taken November 20, 21 and 22, 2017. Top row L-R: Ayse Yusufoglu (84), Senem Dogru (80), Fatma Dogru (70); bottom row L-R: Azize Turan (75), Hatice Demircan (80), Duri Yusufoglu (82). REUTERS/Umit BektasAzize Turan (75) poses as she speaks about her tattoos in front of her home in Dikmen village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 20, 2017. Picture taken November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasHedle Ertas (84) shows her tattoos on her feet as she sits in her garden in Dikmen village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 20, 2017. Picture taken November 20, 2017. REUTERS/Umit BektasAyse Yusufoglu (84) and her sister Duri Yusufoglu (82-R) show their relatives how to apply a tattoo at their home in Alakus village near Kiziltepe, a town in southeastern province of Mardin, Turkey, November 21, 2017. Picture taken November 21, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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