Kurd Kit Conundrum: Mekap Shoes
By Marc Kyle Percival-Degage
The Mekap is a banned shoe, it will land you in jail…sort of.
In order to acquaint with the intricacies of the equally beloved and detested, iconic Turkish made pair of sneakers we have to delve into its history first.
Founded in 1972, Mekap was the first domestic company to use polyurethane injected soles for their shoes, and made products at an affordable price point. Economic prices, state-imposed import sanctions and a growing cultural desire for sneakers made the Mekap sneakers a staple for Turks, and made Mekap a household name.
Eventually import restrictions were lifted and Adidas and Onitsukas, plus Essam shoes which mimiced the look of popular foreign sneakers fulfilled the sneaker itch of the middle to upper class. Mekap shoes were still a popular choice for the working class in Turkey.
With the rise of left wing groups and the Kurdish PKK growing in popularity, Mekap shoes eventually became closely associated with leftists and other Kurdish sympathizers. Then president Turgut Özal stated that the PKK were “a handful of youngsters hiking in mountains with their Mekaps”. Beige Mekap shoes were not necessarily official PKK footwear, but the shoe’s accessibility, durability, and cheap price meant that guerrillas would turn to these shoes as their primary footwear. It was likely media that helped associate the shoes with rebels or sympathizers. Production of their sneakers ceased for a time in the 90s, and Mekap moved more into industrial footwear at that time. Speculation arose surronding the iconic and infamous shoe, stating that they are no longer in production, or that sneaker production moved to Armenia. However beige model of Mekaps are still sold in Turkey proper, meaning that the shoes are almost certainly still produced.
Some legal issues do arise from the possession or wear of the shoes, ranging from accosting of sellers in areas with a rebel presence, to pro Kurdish protesters receiving fines for wearing Mekap shoes, to some being accused of being a terrorist sympathizer for wanting to procure a pair. In any case, Beige Mekaps fall into this strange legal grey zone in terms of Turkish litigation.
Either way, the reputation of these shoes have a lasting legacy in Turkish culture and history, worn by both Turkish lawmen and PKK rebels, and is interestingly both revered and repulsive in equal parts by Turks.
Looking at the shoes themselves, you’ll find a beige polyethylene injected outsole reminiscent color wise to Vans gumsole, with the toecap, mudguard, quarter and heel being a suede leather. The top itself is brown leather. Its insoles have the Mekap logo printed on as well.
Moving to the brown leather tongue, you will find the Mekap logo stamped as well as shoe material symbols denoting the lining and insole and outsole as synthetic, and the upper as leather.
Its included brownish tan colored shoelaces are quite feeble compared to contemporary sneakers, but are usable nonetheless.
Overall these sneaks are pretty decent for the price and are a major status symbol for any Bijiboo or aspiring leftist revolutionary in 1st world nations. They make for a welcome, unique and distinctive addition to a PKK or YPG kit as seen in the photos below.
YPG wearing Mekaps in Syria (BBC via Reuters)
A grohp of women in the PKK (AMN News)
Special thanks to guest writer Marc Kyle Percival-Degage, a nursing student in Dominican University and graduated with honors from American Canyon High School. He also plans to be a reviewer for the fashion and culture website Hypebeast.