Many faces of motherhood in Turkey: From new Mothers Museum to 1,000th vigil of Saturday mothers

ANKARA — A traditional clothesline adorned with pristine white towels and a onesie welcomes visitors at the entrance of the Mothers Museum, the country’s inaugural museum dedicated to motherhood.

Located at an old stone house near Ankara’s historic old city, the museum's modest collection comprises paintings and sculptures depicting mothers and children, poignant letters from soldiers to their mothers and a large sketch showcasing one of Anatolia's oldest carpet motifs — the elibelinde, symbolizing a woman's pregnancy or desire for a child.

"With this museum, we wanted to pay homage to the mothers of Anatolia and bring together their stories," Sermin Yasar, the private museum’s founder, told Al-Monitor. "I hope it will be a place where everyone can find something of themselves, something of the bond they have had with their mother or child."

The museum’s place of honor belongs to a prayer rug of Zubeyde Hanim, the mother of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. The prayer rug, along with a onesie and a cap that Ataturk used as a baby, is coupled with digital images of the famous mother and son created by Iranian artist Hadi Karimi. Visitors can listen to lullabies in Turkish, Kurdish or other minority languages on earphones placed over a cradle in a darkened room.