Photograph of a young man, Mehmet Kahkül no. 8

Gender information of the object: 
Male
Color: 
Black and white
Author: 
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Type: 
Photograph
Primary Material: 
Paper
Place: 
The Aziz Damdelen Collection Kioneli (Gönneli)
Source: 
Nicosia, Aziz Damdelen Studio of Ah¬met Şevki, Mora, Mesaoria, Nicosia District. Nezire Sayar
Code: 
69
Translator: 
Euphrosyne Rizopoulou-Egoumenidou
Description: 
Photograph of a young man, Mehmet Kahkül. It was taken in the studio of Ah­met Şevki around 1918. He is standing with his left hand resting on a couple of books placed on a high corner ta­ble. On the floor in front of the table is a flowerpot. In his right-hand Mehmet holds a gırbaç (whip, turk. kırbaç). Part of his short hair falls forward, in a style called kahgül. He also has a moustache. The headscarf that covers the head is orna­mented with tulip pattern lace (lale oyası). He wears a gömlek (shirt) of pistachio pattern (fıstıklı), with pleats in front and a collar, combined with şalvar, (baggy trousers) made of broadcloth (çufa, turk. çuha) and a silk colourful guşak (sash, turk. kuşak) from Tripoli (tarab­lus turk. trablus) around the waist. The şalvar (baggy trousers) seem to have applied braided decoration along the sides. Over the gömlek (shirt) he wears a black linen long sakko (jacket) with a tulip on the yaka (collar). Below the flower appears the zincir (chain) of his watch, attached to a ring. His legs are covered with long hand-knitted acurlu çorap (woolly stockings), which meet the end of the baggy trousers just below the knees.His flat slip-on shoes are of the type known as kun­dura (turk. kuntura), decorated with a bow (papyonlu kuntura).   
Bibliography: 

Rizopoulou - Egoumenidou, E. and Aziz Damdelen, 2012, Turkish Cypriot dress The Aziz Damdelen Collection, Nicosia, 118.

References/Remarks: 
All dress items that compose this attire are traditional, with the exception of the jacket, which is of western style. According to information provided by his nephew, the photographer Kadir Kaba, Mehmet Kahkül left Cyprus in 1923 and went to live in Antalya. It was the time after the convention of Lausanne treaty, when many Cypriot Turks were given the opportunity to acquire Turkish citizenship, and were encouraged to settle in Turkey. The Turkish govern¬ment promised to offer them house and land (for comments on this mass immigration see the Greek Cypriot Newspaper Eleftheria of the year 1923).