Turkey: The Country’s Food and Holidays

Cuisine

In Turkey, discussions of culture or politics generally occur over coffee. Imported from Syria in 1555, coffee was considered “the milk of chess players and thinkers” and played an important part in ceremonies of the imperial court. Today, women usually converse over coffee and sweets at home, whereas men meet in coffeehouses. Turkish coffee is prepared with sugar (there are six degrees of sweetness) and is therefore served without spoons. The shish kebab is a Turkish invention, as is borek, a meat-filled pastry [See: Recipe: Borek]. Turkish cuisine features lamb, eggplant, and pilafs. Vegetables are often stuffed with aromatic meat preparations, and desserts usually combine fruits, nuts, and pastry.

Major Holidays and Celebrations

Turkish National Day

Each year, the founding of the modern Turkish state on October 29, 1923, is celebrated as a national holiday. At the end of World War I, Turks under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk fought to establish a free and independent Turkish nation out of the ruins of the once powerful Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of Lausanne, which officially established peace between the Allied powers and the Ottoman Empire, was signed in July 1923 and recognized Turkey as a new, democratic state. On October 29, the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed and Ataturk was elected its first president. As the nation’s leader, Ataturk worked hard to realize his vision of a modern, secular country. The public celebrates the holiday for two days with parades, music, and torchlight processions.

Yevmi Ashurer

The Islamic month of Muharram, which roughly coincides with the Gregorian calendar month of May, is the first holy month of the Islamic lunar calendar. The first 10 days of Muharram are part of a festival commemorating the life of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. In Turkey, the 10th of Muharram is also a holy day known as Yevmi Ashurer. The holiday honors Noah’s debarkation from the Ark on Mount Ararat. Ashurer is a sweet porridge made from boiled wheat, grains, nuts, and currants; it is supposedly similar to the porridge that Noah carried on the Ark. On Yevmi Ashurer family and neighbors gather to share ashurer with one another and to symbolically share in the gifts of Allah.

Istanbul International Puppet Festival

Every year in early May, Turkey’s largest city hosts the Istanbul International Puppet Festival, which spotlights some of the world’s most creative puppeteers. The festival’s goal is to introduce Turkish audiences to styles of puppetry from all corners of the globe, with an emphasis on modern interpretations and fantasy themes. In addition to puppet shows, the festival’s venues also feature seminars and exhibitions on puppet theater.

Kafkasor Art and Culture Festival

Held every June in a temporary city of large tents, the Kafkasor Art and Culture Festival celebrates a time in Turkey’s history when the population migrated to the plateau region of Kafkasor near the Black Sea. In addition to exhibitions of Turkish art and culture and some spirited folk dancing, the highlights of the festivities are wrestling and some unusual bullfighting. The wrestlers are known to not only compete among themselves, but with the bulls as well!

International Istanbul Music Festival

More than 1,000 Turkish and international musicians come to Istanbul each year for the International Istanbul Music Festival, which highlights classical music in a number of venues. In addition to the fourth-century St. Irene’s Church, built by Emperor Constantine I, performances are presented in the Hagia Eirene Museum and the Ataturk Cultural Center. The music festival is just one of many held each summer in Turkey; other events highlight jazz, film, and theater.

Whirling Dervish Festival

Held in Konya during December 10-17, the weeklong Whirling Dervish Festival honors Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, the 13th-century poet and Islamic philosopher who founded the Mevlevi Order of Whirling Dervishes. The commemorative ceremony for Rumi attracts more than 1 million people annually and is known as one of the world’s greatest spectacles. The 700-year-old “whirling” dances performed during the ceremony’s climax-called the “Nuptial Night”-are a commemoration of Rumi’s death and his union with God. They are said to represent the four seasons, the four elements, and the four ages of man. As the dervishes (dancers) start to turn from right to left, they unfold their arms, point their right hands upward to receive God’s goodness, then point their left hands downward to distribute it to the earth. By revolving around themselves, the dervishes take part in the revolution of the universe, jettison their egos, and discover truth. Konya, where the festival takes place, is one of Turkey’s oldest continuously inhabited cities.

Public Holidays 2008

January 1 (New Year’s Day), April 23 (National Sovereignty and Children’s Day), May 19 (Commemoration of Ataturk and Youth and Sports Day), August 30 (Victory Day), October 1-3* (Seker Bayram-end of Ramadan), October 29 (Republic Day), December 9-12* (Kurban Bayram-Feast of the Sacrifice).

*Note: Note: Exact dates of observance for Islamic holidays may vary slightly from those presented, as the forms and results of observation or prediction used to determine the Islamic lunar calendar can differ.

Sources:

Baker, Beth A., ed., Holidays and Anniversaries of the World. London: Gale Cengage, 1998.; Bozdogan, Sibel and Resat Kasaba. Rethinking Modernity and National Identity in Turkey. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1997.; Ergener, Resit and Rashid Ergener. About Turkey: Geography, Economy, Politics, Religion, and Culture. Santa Fe, NM: Pilgrims’ Process, 2002.; Feener, Michael R., ed. Islam in World Cultures. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2004.; Menzel, Peter. Hungry Planet: What the World Eats. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2007.