light Lavender Scarf

I saw many people in Şanlıurfa wearing a light lavender scarf.  Even men were wearing them, sometimes on their head or simply wrapped around their neck.  I was curious what that was about and so I asked Professor R. Dietrich who has immigrated to Turkey for many years.  Instead of me explaining it, I think it’s better to see what he wrote:

It is simply adopted by the Arabs (men and women) there because they liked the color and the fact that a former Prime Minister, Tansu Çiller had worn one when she visited Urfa a number of years ago. Now they are worn by both the Arabs and Kurds in the southeast, but I have never seen them in any other country.

 

I also asked about the differ colors (black and white, all white and red and white) for the kuffiyeh (called a poşi - a Kurdish word - locally) and the different cuts of the potur - the baggy pants worn by the men. I was told that the color of the men's head scarves and the particular style of potur were indicative of which aşiret, clan, the man belonged to. In the east and  southeast the aşiret system of tribal/clan alliances under the rule of their head, an ağa, is still very strong mostly among Kurds and Arabs.