Hi Quiffy, Ramadan starts tomorrow and no, it won't affect your holiday in Icmeler. The only difference you will notice is Turkish people eating at dusk, and you will see them going and fetching their special bread. On the other hand, if you were staying in Kusadasi, you would be awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of drums beating, telling people to eat/drink before sun rise !! Have yourself a great holiday.

Les

Merged with existing topic which had lots of information.

luci

thanks for all your replies. i'll bear it in mind then.

From my experience of living here over 11 years now...( In the Antalya area and married to a Turk for 18yrs )... .in the touristic areas I cannot see nothing that will affect your travels or trip druing Ramadan...Not all turks observe the fast or traditions...and it is an individual's choice and then are not offened when someone else eats....also there are some rules about fasting for example people on medication, pregnant women or breast feeding mothers are all excluded from fasting....and with the holiday arriving early every year by 10 days...it falls closer and closer into the touristic summer season...It is a wonderful time full of celebrations....

where I work there are only 1 or 2 co-workers that fast and they are around food all day..and are never upset..also my elderly turkish mother-in-law never takes any offence....for soem very very highly reglious persons however it might be offensive but I doubt you will run into any of those on your travels...

also I have observed on many occasions..sitting in the food court at the migros shopping center and surprized by the abundance of turks eating and drinking...

Hello there,

Does anybody know when Ramadan will be next year? We will be due to fly out on the 17th Sept but not too sure if it falls when we go. I think we will be there until the 30th Sept.

Does anybody know?
Thank you
Ruth

Ramadan in 2009 starts on Friday, the 21st of August and will continue for 30 days until Saturday, the 19th of September.

Ah so I will be there at the tail end. Are there any religious celebrations for the end of Ramadan. I have 2 Turkish friends but am not sure if they observe religion. It is for my own curiosity more than anything really. Also to know what to do during this time, if anything.

Regards
Ruth

There are four days of celebrations at the end of ramazan, called the seker bayram (sugar festival). People go out and eat with friends and family, give gifts and sweets to children and generally have a good time. It's a bit like our Christmas in a way. There is a four day bank holiday too, so banks, post office and other public buiding will be close. It's a nice time to be there.

Yeah. I had not even though of it when I booked. I have just spent the last hour reading about Muslim religion. Very intresting. It beats writing a journal article which is what I should be doing! Oops!

I cannot wait. Do you think I should take some sweets over for the end of Ramadan for my friends children, what would be considered the done thing?

Thank you
ruth

You can buy lots of nice sweets over there and it would be a lovely thing to do. My children got loads last year.

Kedi .. It is a great time to be in turkey ,will be there for the seker bayram , (sugar festival) cant wait .
Allah Kabul Etsin.

Bluepeterno1.

Kedi - Are there any sweets in particular that are bought traditionally? Is there Turkish sweet shops that I can look out for or would I just go to a general store?

Sorry but it is a long time since I have been to Turkey and I cannot remember a thing!!

Ruth

They are usually wrapped chocolates and boiled sweets, if you go in the supermarkets you will see big displays of all kinds of sweets and chocolates. The children just get given handfuls of them or you can give them a little bag full. Traditionally the children go around and knock on the doors of their neighbours and friends and come back home with a huge bag full. In the resorts they give them out in shops and restaurants too.

Never been to Turkey before..but I was in Tunisia for Ramadam 2 yearsago and I noticed alot of shops etc close at about 5pm so that the staff can go home to eat!!
But everywhere came really alive at night..Monastir was lit up beautifully at night.
So I'm guessing Turkey will be much the same??

I also noticed that whilst the locals had no problem with Tourists eating and drinking discreetly during fasting hours they had absolutely no respect at all for any muslim who broke the Ramadam without good reason..(pregnancy,illness etc).

Overall we enjoyed the experience of staying in a muslim country during Ramadam.

Turkey is not as strict as Tunisia, a lot of people don't fast during Ramadan in the resorts and everyone is fine with that. Also they don't close anything, it all stays open as usual.