On Oct. 13, Turkish newspapers reported that men in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey are going to barbershops in record numbers to get a clean shave. Having a beard, according to the reports, is seen as a symbol of affiliation with the Islamic State (IS). A tweet made the rounds on multiple accounts stating: “If today no Kurd is scared to speak Kurdish, but Kurds are scared to wear a beard, that means there is pressure from the PKK [Kurdistan Workers Party], not the Turkish state, on the people.”

Facial hair has long been a contested issue for men in Turkey, where different styles of beard and mustache can signal different sociopolitical viewpoints. According to Islamic traditions, growing a beard is considered Sunnah, or recommended, for adult men. Muslim men are told to differentiate themselves from nonbelievers and not trim their beards because it is considered effeminate. However, according to Turkish legal code, with only a few exceptions, it is forbidden for government employees to grow a beard. Yet, the accuracy of the news that "record-breaking numbers of men" are going to barbershops is unclear.

Nurcan Baysal, a columnist with the T24 daily and a resident of the southeastern province of Diyarbakir, told Al-Monitor: “I do not think this news is accurate. Around here, many men wear beards, and neither Kurdish Hezbollah nor IS members are concerned about hiding their identity. To the contrary, they approach women without a headscarf, asking why they are not covered.” None of the members of Huda-Par — a Sunni Islamist Party — that Al-Monitor contacted had shaved their beards. A member of the People's Democracy Party (HDP) from Istanbul, a young woman with a Kurdish background, told Al-Monitor, “Now that we watch IS videos, frankly I am scared of men with scruffy long beards.”

Kobani protests in Turkish towns between Oct. 7-10 left hundreds of people injured and 42 dead, including two police officers, Thousands of buildings and cars were set on fire. During the protests, conservative Muslim groups throughout the country, along with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, argued that bearded men have automatically become targets. It was, however, about more than the beard, according to Zeynep Bozdas, the foreign relations adviser of Huda-Par. Bozdas tweeted Oct. 13: “They view anyone who has a beard, who attends mosque or religious school as IS members. Their concern is not IS but Islam.” Huda-Par is a political party established in December 2012 in an effort to legalize Kurdish Hezbollah. Kurdish Hezbollah has been fighting against the PKK, seen as the armed wing of the HDP, since 1996.