There are a lot of different types of celebrations in Turkey.

OFFICIAL FESTIVALS RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS NATIONAL FESTIVALS TURKISH FESTIVALS OFFICIAL FESTIVALS RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS NATIONAL FESTIVALS

OFFICIAL FESTIVALS: Jan 1: New Year's Day New Year's Day: New Year's Day in Turkey is kind of a surrogate Christmas, with decorations in shops and the exchange of gifts and greeting cards.

RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS : Since the majority of the population is Muslim, two of the main festivals are Islamic religious festivals. The country's two major religious festivals are Ramadan Festival ( the Festival of the Sweets) (3 days), and the Festival of the Sacrifice (4 days).

Ramadan (Sweet festival) and the Feast of the Sacrifice are celebrated eleven days earlier each year than the year before. The main reason why religious festivals are not celebrated on the same days every year is because they are calculated according to the lunar calendar. The official Turkish calendar is the Gregorian one used by Europe and America. However, religious festivals are celebrated according to the Islamic lunar calendar, therefore the dates of Islamic festivals take place around 11 days earlier each year.

[. ] Lunar calendar: Unlike common calendar, which is Solar based [*] Lunar calendar: Unlike common calendar, which is Solar based. Islamic calendar is Lunar based but does not mean that Muslims worship moon. It is simply another way to count days of the month and the year.

Ramadan Festival ( Sweet Festival) : Turkey is predominantly a Muslim society, and two of the main festivals are Islamic religious festivals. One of them is the Ramadan festival which is celebrated after 30 fasting days.

During the fasting time (Ramadan), Muslims are forbidden to eat, drink, smoke or have sexual intercourse between sunrise and sunset. Children are not expected to adhere to such a strict fast, but will often follow a less rigorous diet.

It is named as a ‘Sweet Festival’ because during this festival, children go from door to door asking for sweet and when people visit each other, they are served sweets.

Ramadan means to share emotions that the poor people feel and live because they can't earn enough money to buy food and to spend easily. At the same time, Ramadan means to support poor people with money because the religion of Islam orders us to give to poor people some money or gifts that are 1/40 of our wealth, like a tax. The money or gifts are given to poor people politely by their relatives, other rich people etc.

The Ramadan festival continues three days The Ramadan festival continues three days. All people prepare for the festival. They make a big cleaning in their homes and yards before the festival date, and they wear the cleanest or the newest clothes.

The main characteristics of Ramadan and the Feast of the Sacrifice are that people, neighbours, relatives and friends visit and go to see each other. Elderly sick people are visited by their young relatives. Young people kiss their parents’ hands and receive best wishes and blessings from them. It is a tradition to give money or little gifts to those children who kiss one’s hands. Candies are served to visitors during Ramadan. Children receive candies and money from the adults.

The Feast of Sacrifice: The other religious festival, The Feast of Sacrifice, is celebrated almost the same as the Ramadan festival. It takes place seventy days after Ramazan for four days. This festival takes place in Islam as a memory of the story in which a ram fell from the sky just at the moment when the Prophet Abraham was about to sacrifice his son to God.

Every year during The Feast of Sacrifice, around four million cows, rams, sheep, camels are sacrificed by every head of a household who can afford to buy an animal. We sacrifice different types of animals to our economy. We can sacrifice sheep for one person and a cow or a camel for maximum 7 people. It is then butchered and the family and friends prepare for a feast. Part of the meat is distributed to the needy, and the skin is donated to charity. According to tradition, each family must slaughter an animal and distribute one-thirds of it to the needy. They serve one-thirds of it to the visiters and they eat other one-thirds of it with the family members.

This time, most of the gifts are food This time, most of the gifts are food. During the Feast of the Sacrifice, not only candies but also the meat of sacrificial animal are served to guests. Both during Ramadan and the Feast of the Sacrifice people come together, celebrate and entertain each other.

NATIONAL FESTIVALS: In addition to religious festivals, Turkish people celebrate national ones as well:

Here is the national festivals of Turkey: Apr 23: National Sovereignty and Children's Day: May 19: Atatürk Commemoration and Youth & Sports Day Aug 30: Victory Day Oct 29: Republic Day

Apr 23: National Sovereignty and Children's Day: (anniversary of the establishment of Turkish Grand National Assembly)

April 23 is National Sovereignty and Children's Day April 23 is National Sovereignty and Children's Day. It commemorates the day on which the first Grand National Assembly, or republican parliament, met in 1920. It means that we did not accept the treaties that were signed by the Sultan. There were parlementers from every part of the country and they said their opinions about the country. So they srarted to rule the country. This day is celebrated as the children festival every year. This is the only children festival in the world. So children from different parts of the world are invited to come to Turkey to join in the celebrations for the festival.

May 19: Atatürk Commemoration and Youth & Sports Day ( the arrival of Atatürk in Samsun, and the beginning of the War of Independence)

The Commemoration of Atatürk on May 19, which marks the day the former leader began the war of independence in 1919, is also known as Youth and Sports Day. Schools hold sports competitions on this day.

Following the years of decline the Ottoman Empire entered the world war in an alliance with Germany in 1914 in which it was ultimatelly defeated. After the western power sought to partition the empire through the Treaty of Sevres. With the help of Allies Greece had occupied Izmir as provided in the treaty. On 19 May 1919, this prompted the beginning of a nationalist movement under the command of Atatürk. He sought to revolve the terms of the treaties signed by the sultan in İstanbul. Then he went to Samsun (one of the city in Turkey) and started the war of Independence.

August 30: Victory Day (victory over invading forces in 1922)

Victory Day, August 30, commemorates the date in 1923 on which Turkey was able to successfully expel all foreign powers from Turkish soil.

After starting the war of Independence on 19 May 1919 Turkish people had a very big and harmful wars. We don’t have enough money or weapons to make a war but under the command of Atatürk, Turkish people believed that they couldn’ t live under another nations rules. So they fighted to die. At the end, on 30th August 1922 we won the Independence war and celebrate this day as the victory day every year. It is celebrated by a parade of military equipment and an air show.

Oct 29: Republic Day (anniversary of the declaration of the Turkish Republic)

Republic Day on October 29 commemorates the proclamation of the republic in 1923.

By 18 September 1922 the occupying armies were repelled and the birth of the Turkish state was started. On 1st November 1922, Assembly formally abolished the Office of Sultan. The treaty of Lausanne led to the international recognization of soveregnty of the newly formed Republic as the succesor state of the defunct Otoman Empire. On 29 October 1923, Turkey declared the Republic and we celebrate this day as the Republic day every year. Many cities and towns hold parades on this day.