Kurdish men dancing.

This kind of dancing, called ‘Govend’ or ‘Dîlan’ in Kurdish, and ‘Halay’ in Turkish is the most popular dance form in Southeastern Anatolia. Typically, Govend/Halay dancers form a circle or a line, while holding each other with the little finger or shoulder to shoulder or even hand to hand with the last and first player holding a piece of cloth. Men and women form separate or mixed lines, depending on regional custom. While dancing, the row of dancers moves to the right (except in Hakkâri, where it goes generally to the left).

Note that, in opposition to the women, few men present wear the national dress, which is called ‘şal-şepik’ in
Southeastern Anatolia, in spite of most Kurdish men being very proud of the dress. Problem is that this costume is also the dress of the peshmerga (Kurdish guerrilla), and that this connection provoked the Kurdish male costume to be (more or less) forbidden in Turkey, except for folkloristic groups while performing.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Source: Folkdance Group Kavak (Dances from Anatolia), Antwerpen/Belgium & Wikipedia.