google it

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

Cajd your are thinking of Kurban Bayram which moves by 10 days every year and this year its december -so you must have been here a few tears ago.

yeah it was about 13 years ago roughly
during this time all the hotels were full of turkish people ( yes i know we were in turkey) and a lot animals were being sacrificed we enjoyed the experience but we always try not to go during it as it was a bit gruesome to me didn't know it changed but thanks for this
we have been 4 or 5 tmes since and love the country

Cajd

Kurban Bayram is approx 2 months after ramadan, and the hotels will be full of Turkish as its one of their main chances to get a holiday. That and the end of ramadan are the two major work breaks here although they are getting more in the way of annual holidays now than they were 15 years ago.

I grew up on farms so the slaughtering doesent bother me too much and now its more controlled than it was- back then it was on every street corner now they are supposed to use designated areas.