has anyone brought back a turkish water pipe from turkey through us customs? thanks for any information

No, I have not. What is your concern? That it'll be thought of as drug paraphernalia and they'll confiscate it?

You can buy water pipes in the US, they are not illegal. (You might want to price some before your trip to make sure you get a bargain, you can buy them on-line too.) Even the US Postal Service will allow manufactures to use the mail to ship hookahs, see http://www.southsmoke.com/shiprates.cfm, so I would not have any concerns about bringing one into the US.

The only thing that US Customs would be interested in is whether you paid more than US$800 for it, in that case, you would have to pay duty on it.

But you can satisfy yourself by checking the US Customs website at http://www.cbp.gov/ which lists prohibited articles.

that is my concern, exactly that it might be thought of as drug paraphenelia. what do you think

Not if you think you'll smoke tobacco in it.

I don't think it would be a problem. Most of the ones I saw are packaged/boxed up and are very obviously tourist-type purchases.

Just don't smoke anything in it before you bring it home!

suze hit the nail on the head - its not the pipe but any residue in it that would be of interest to CBP (Customs and Border Protection).

i brought a hookah back from morocco without any problems.

Not allowed if you have water in it

Unless, of course, it's smaller than 3oz water and fits into your 1qt baggie.