Religious holidays in Turkey There are two religious holidays or feasts, the first is Seker Bayrami (3 days) which comes immediately after 30 days of fasting in the Ramadan and the second is Kurban Bayrami (4 days) which follows 70 days after Seker Bayrami.
In Turkish, Bayram is "feast" or "holiday", seker is "sweets" and kurban is a "sacrifice". The dates of religious holidays come 10 days earlier each year because of the difference between the Lunar Year (354 days) and the Solar Year (365 days). Although not all the people in Anatolia are religious, these religious feasts are very traditional and have become essential. People make lots of preparations in celebration of these feasts like cleaning houses, shopping, buying feast gifts, new clothes, sending greeting cards and so forth. On the first day of the feast, very early in the morning, people get up, wash themselves, wear fragrance or cologne and put on their new clothes.The majority of the male population go to mosques for the early morning prayer which is extremely important.
School aged children are also taken to mosques by their fathers or older relatives in order to make them acquire the habit of going to prayers. So many people go to mosques that they do not fit inside or even in the courtyard. When this is the case, they take small carpets from home to mosques, put them in the streets near the mosque and join in with the service. The Imams give sermons as this is an opportunity to preach to so many people together. The dominant subject these days is peace, and they always try to encourage brotherhood and general goodwill among all. After prayers in the mosque everybody gives feast greeting to each other by shaking hands.
The next stage is at home where feast greetings continue. In the traditional extended families these greetings do not take too much time as all members are at the same place.But in nuclear families it might take a much longer time. Kurban Bayrami is the same as Seker Bayrami except the additional sacrifice as the name of the feast bears.
The sacrificial animal, a ram, a goat or any of the cattle will be made ready to sacrifice and from the first morning onward, at anytime, will be sacrificed by one of the members of the family or somebody who represents him. The meat from the sacrificed animal is divided into three parts; one for the poor, one for the neighbors and relatives and the last is for the family. The sacrificing is generally done in courtyards of houses or if these do not exist then it is conducted in specially arranged public places. People can also make a donation to the same value of a sacrifice to a charity instead of doing it themselves.National holidays of Turkey In Turkey, a lot of national holidays. There are: New Year’s Day, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, Labor and Solidarity Day, Youth and Sports Day, Republic Day and etc.
Among these is the most important holiday is Republic Day. Many people in Turkey celebrate Republic Day on October 29 by attending performances and participating in traditional processions with flags and musical bands. The Turkish Republic’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk proclaimed Republic Day as Turkey’s most important holiday. Many people go to local stadiums on October 29 to watch performances dedicated to Republic Day in Turkey. Such performances usually consist of theater sketches, poetry readings and traditional Turkish dances.
Many school children participate in school performances for parents and teachers.Parades may take place in some cities and politicians may give public speeches on this day. Many people also lay wreaths to Atatürk’s monuments or visit Atatürk’s mausoleum in the country’s capital, Ankara. In the evening of October 29 many cities have traditional processions with flags and musical bands to commemorate Republic Day in Turkey. The processions usually end with fireworks, which begin after dark.
Republic Day is an official national holiday in Turkey. Public administration buildings, schools, post offices and many small businesses are usually closed on this day. Public transport schedules may vary. Public transport routes may change in the event of street performances and processions.
The afternoon of the previous day, October 28, is also an official holiday. Republic Day marks the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1923. After Turkey’s victory in the War of Independence (1919-1923), the Turkish parliament proclaimed the new Turkish state as a republic. A new constitution, which the parliament adopted on October 29, 1923, replaced the constitution of the Ottoman Empire.
The leader in the Turkish War of Independence, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, became the country’s first president on the same day. According to Atatürk, Republic Day is Turkey’s most important holiday. The common symbols of Republic Day in Turkey are: the Turkish flag. Pictures of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
These symbols can be seen on Republic Day in Turkey.Turkish Literature This comprises the tradition of written and oral literature established by the Turks throughout history, and also the products of that tradition. The historical development of Turkish literature is studied under three main categories: pre-Islamic Turkish literature, the Turkish literature that developed under the influence of Islamic civilization, and that which developed under the influence of the West. This classification was made in the light of the characteristic influence of the religious and cultural orbits which the Turks entered. According to historians, the Turks emerged from Central Asia. Not all of the cultural products of the Turks of Central Asia have survived down to the present day.
Bearing in mind that, the first written documents in Turkish dated the 6th century.it is very likely that we do not possess the basic documents of the literature of that time.This area consists of folk tales, folk songs, proverbs, riddles and village performance shows, the creators of which are either unclear or unknown. Dervish literature can be regarded as popular literature with a religious content. Mysticism's broad tolerance and manner of expression resulted in the emergence of an independent strand in this literary tradition.
Dervish poetry would be read to the accompaniment of tunes known as 'ilahi' or 'nefes.' Although containing elements of Arabic and Persian, the language employed in dervish literature was intended to be clearly understood. The quatrain and syllabic metre were used throughout. The most important representatives of this form of literature are Yunus Emre, Nesimi, Kaygusuz Abdal, Hac? Bayram Veli, Hatayi and Pir Sultan Abdal. After the 18th century, efforts were made in Turkish (Ottoman) society to move into the orbit of Western civilisation.
Following developments in the military and political fields, these began to be felt in literary life as well. Writers who had seen the West and were closely acquainted with it were the first heralds of this new literature. The appearance of the newspaper 'Tercüman-? Ahaval' in 1860 is generally accepted as the start of the literature that developed under the influence of the West. Being neither official nor semi-official, the paper was the first to be brought out under a private initiative. The period it is regarded to have ushered in is further divided into sub-periods: The Administrative Reform, the Servet-i Fünun, Fecr-i Ati, National Literature and Republic and after periods.Arts of Turkey Turkish art refers to all works of visual art originating from the geographical area of what is present day Turkey since the arrival of the Turks in the Middle Ages.
Turkey also was the home of much significant art produced by earlier cultures, including the Hittites, Ancient Greeks, and Byzantines. The 16th and 17th centuries are generally cognised as the finest period for art in the Ottoman Empire, much of it associated with the huge Imperial court. Ottoman architecture developed traditional Islamic styles, with some technical influences from Europe, into a highly sophisticated style, with interiors richly decorated in coloured tiles, seen in palaces, mosques and turbe mausolea. Other important media were in the applied or decorative arts rather than figurative work. Pottery, especially ?znik pottery, hardstone carvings, Turkish carpets and textiles were all produced to extremely high standards, and carpets in particular were exported widely.
Other Turkish art ranges from metalwork, carved woodwork and furniture with elaborate inlays to traditional Ebru or paper marbling. In the 19th century Turkish art and architecture became more heavily influenced by contemporary European styles, leading to over-elaborated and fussy detail in decoration. European-style painting was slow to be adopted, with Osman Hamdi Bey (1842-1910) for long a somewhat solitary figure.He was a member of the Ottoman administrative elite who trained in Paris, and painted throughout his long career as a senior administrator and curator in Turkey.
Many of his works represent Orientalism from the inside, as it were. A transition from Islamic artistic traditions under the Ottoman Empire to a more secular, Western orientation has taken place in Turkey. Turkish painters today are striving to find their own art forms, free from Western influence. Sculpture is less developed, and public monuments are usually heroic representations of Atatürk and events from the war of independence.
Literature is considered the most advanced of contemporary Turkish arts.Traditions and customs in Turkey In changing and developing world, many things lost in the deepness of the history. Many civilizations, races and cultures found, rised, and disappeared. Among these civilizations, there is one thing which the history could not destroy, and it is the “Turks”. Turkish civilization don’t vannished because of its rooted traditions and beliefs.
However, nowadays, Turkish traditions are even losing their importance although they are the only things that have been preventing Turkish culture throughout the history. In my opinion, we should preserve the two most importnat Turkish traditions in order not to be disappeared, to be known as Turkish society, and many other reasons: the fact of family, respect and friendship. The first traditions that should be protected in Turkey is the fact of family. The fact of family is inevitable custom for our society structure. Needless to say, the family is the most important material of society and civilizations.Many corruptions and errors firstly happen in family life, and then gradually they affect all the entire Turkey including prime minister and representatives of Turkish parliament.
That is to say, the family life is the indicator of whole life in a country. The second traditions that Turkey should preserve is respect and friendship. In the social life of Turkey, citizens used to be respectful and have a good fellowship. However, these days, these two things have forgotten in many area.
The world of people is set up for materialism instead of emotions, friendship and respect. Avarices and ambitions are the most important things for people lives. For example, many worker do whatever they think to promote. Sometimes, they forget the importance of friend in order to promote and be paid much money.In my opinion, this will be the onset of social destruction.
Moreover, from day to day, people as a concept depends on loneliness because many people believe that their loneliness is the reason of their success. All in all, the two most important Turkish traditions should be preserved in order to prevent their absence’s negative effects. First, the reality of family should be protected. Second, the fellowsip and esteem among citizens should be preserved. In my opinion, throughout the history, Turkish culture and civilization couldn’t be destroyed because of the strenght of traditions.
Obviously, our traditions have begun to change since people’s mind change. According to some people, many traditions are needless since they are not the representative of the modern world. I hope that these people do NOT forget the reality of Turkey. If we need a revolution, this should be made slowly.
