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The official calendar in Turkey is exactly the same as used throughout most of the world. It is the Gregorian Calendar, which starts by birth of Jesus. But because of Turkey is a Moslem(Muslim) country all Religious Festivals comes by the HIJRI (Hicri) calendar... a lunar calendar that which is off-set from the Gregorian by 11 days every year. Islamic calendar is Lunar based but does not mean that Moslems(Muslims) worship moon. It is simply another way to count days of the month and the year. Like all Islamic months, RAMAZAN(Ramadan), the 9th lunar month, begins after sighting Crescent, and not the birth of the new moon. The practical effect of this is that the positions of the various religious holidays and festivals are not fixed but rather move in relation to the year. The Month of RAMADAN (Turks call RAMAZAN) is a period of one month fasting. Moslems(Muslims) for this 30 day period when the devout will refrain from eating or drinking between sunrise and sunset. In rural or conservative areas of the country you may find open restaurants a little scarce but in the big cities life goes on pretty much as usual. During the month of Ramadan(Turks call RAMAZAN), wherever you go, it's a little rude to eat in the streets and public places, etc. But for you the plus side of Ramazan is that you can get the excellent PIDE (a flat bread that only available during the Ramazan) almost anywhere and it's very tasty. There are two religious holidays: SEKER BAYRAMI or call as same as RAMAZAN BAYRAMI and the second one is KURBAN BAYRAMI. SEKER BAYRAMI: The word of 'Seker' means candy or sugar in Turkish. SEKER BAYRAMI immediately follows the month of Ramadan (Turk call RAMAZAN) and it is a very important family holiday. It is a time for giving love of ALLAH and respect. Traditionally candies as Turkish delights which call lokum or chocolates and simple,inexpensive presents mostly given to the children. The SEKER BAYRAMI celebrations last four days in Turkey. In today's modern life of Turkey, during this holiday, especially people who lives in the big cities mostly take a get-away type of short trips. KURBAN BAYRAMI (Sacrifice Holiday): Kurban Bayrami the most important religious and secular holiday of the year. Kurban means 'sacrifice' in Turkish. Kurban Bayrami comes during the happy season of the pilgrimage (HAC, in Turkish) period, to thank ALLAH (God) for sending a ram for Prophet Hz.Ibrahim (Abraham) to slaughter instead of his son Ismail (Ishmael). Kurban Bayrami commemorates Prophet Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son Ismail (Ishmael). In the story, God orders Abraham to take his son up to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him. Abraham takes takes his son up to mountain and lays him down. But at the last moment God stop Abraham, congratulates him on his faithfulness and order him to sacrifice instead a ram tangled in a nearby bush, which Abraham does. Also; KURBAN BAYRAMI is an important affirmation of one of the key tenets of ISLAM, shared social responsibility. Families who can afford to sacrifice an animal... this can be mostly a ram or goat, will do so and there is a complex code stipulating how the carcass should be distributed amongst friends, family and charitable concerns. Travelling before the holiday you'll notice the build up ram and goats outskirts of towns and cities as their owners bring them in to be sold. On the day itself the more squeamish may want to keep out of the way as many animals are despatched in gardens or the street. Please take note that, this is also a major public holiday in Turkey and mean while this holiday of KURBAN BAYRAMI is 4 days and all the schools and governmental offices, many stores and private businesses will be close. Even sometimes, depend of the day of the week, this holidays joins to the weekend and public gets a whole week or more days off. Again... this is a major public holiday and all the highways, bus/train stations, see ports and airports are extremely busy by travellers. If you are traveling by your own transportation please be very careful with the traffic!
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