We saw a 'break making' lady in Istanbul at a restaurant with chin tattoos like you described. At a Turkmenistan restaurant. Someone in my group spoke to her and she was from...guess where? Turkmenistan. I would guess you might be seeing Turkmenistan people who have moved to Turkey.

I think it WAS common for older (60 yo and older today) generation in Turkmen/Turkomant (and some Kurdish) tribes in Eastern Turkey. They were symbol of "their traditional roots, loyalty to their culture, protection from bad luck and illness, and also they believe some of those images bring luck etc"....but it seems like it was an old tradition, and for younger generation it is not common any more...

My mother in law has a single blue dot on her upper forehead. She got it when she was a child but she doesn't seem to know why.. and I've never seen anyone else in their city with it

I'd like to know how they make it and for what purpose as well

Yes, also it would identify where you came from. When people are missing one of the first things you read are distinguishing marks. Tattoos that were tribal certainly would do that. I wish there were some serious photographic documentation the marks, but the people of North Africa do not like having photographs taken of themselves. I did some a few drawings of the different marks. They were most interesting and it's surprising anthropologists have not done some serious studies of the marks. To me they look almost like the written form of lost language.

The younger women don't often have them. Thus it seems a dying art form.

Quoting AEnigma III: Quoting alameda: From what was told to me they were tribal marks that in addition to beautification helped discourage kidnapping. Wow - I never knew that! I guess it WOULD be a very good deterent to kidnapping.

No Trudy, I was talking about the Berber tattoos in North Africa. The reason I referenced them was because of the similar placement of the markings.

It's nice to see you again Azade...

The marks are pretty simple to make. Exactly how they did it in your mother in law's case I don't know, but I have a small pencil point sized blue mark I received when rushing down a very crowded hallway in a in High School to my next class many years ago.

A boy with a sharpened pencil accidentally stabbed me with his graphite pencil on his rush to his next class. That mark has stayed with me for years and years.

It was only fraction of a second, he didn't even realize he stabbed me. It didn't hurt much, but it's been there for years. Although, it has faded through the years.