| Official
holidays
Jan
1: New Year's Day
National
holidays
Apr
23: National Sovereignty and
Children's Day (anniversary of the
establishment of Turkish Grand
National Assembly)
May
1: Labour and Solidarity Day
(recently added in 2009)
May
19: Atatürk Commemoration and
Youth & Sports Day ( the
arrival of Atatürk in Samsun, and
the beginning of the War of
Independence)
Aug
30: Victory Day (victory over
invading forces in 1922).
Oct
29: Republic Day (anniversary
of the declaration of the Turkish
Republic)
Religious
holidays
Seker
Bayrami:Three-day festival
when sweets are eaten to celebrate
the end of the fast of Ramadan.
Also known as Ramazan Bayrami.
Kurban
Bayrami: Four-day festival
when sacrificial sheep are
slaughtered and their meat
distributed to the poor.
The
dates of these religious festivals
change according to the Islamic
calendar an thus occur 10-11 days
(exact difference between
Gregorian and Lunar calendars is
10 days and 21 hrs) earlier each
year. According to this;
Seker
Bayrami was celebrated on 30
September-1-2 October 2008, and it
will be celebrated on 20-21-22
September 2009, on 9-10-11
September 2010, and on 30-31
August-1 September 2011.
Kurban
Bayrami was celebrated on 31
December 2006-1-2-3 January 2007
and on 20-21-22-23 December 2007,
and on 8-9-10-11 December 2008,
and will be celebrated on
27-28-29-30 November 2009, on
16-17-18-19 November 2010, on
6-7-8-9 November 2011, and on
26-27-28-29 October 2012.
Note
Muslim
festivals are timed according to
the phases of the moon and change
each year. During the lunar month
of Ramadan that precedes Ramazan
Bayrami, Muslims fast during the
day and normal business patterns
may be interrupted. Some
restaurants are closed during the
day and there may be restrictions
on smoking and drinking.
Generally, centres of tourism are
unaffected. Some disruption may
continue into Ramazan Bayrami
itself. Ramazan Bayrami and Kurban
Bayrami may last anything from two
to 10 days, depending on the
region. Transport and hotels are
very busy during these holidays,
so book in advance.
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