Assignment. Read text 12 and find xenonyms defining the specificity of these religious holidays

The official Turkish calendar is the Western, Gregorian one used in Europe, but religious festivals are celebrated according to the Islamic lunar calendar. As the lunar calendar is about 11 days shorter than the Gregorian, the Islamic festivals arrive 11 days earlier each year.

Actual dates for Islamic religious festivals are proclaimed by Muslim authorities after the appropriate astronomical observations and calculations have been made.

For major religious and public holidays there is a half-day vacation for ‘preparation’, called arife, preceding the start of a festival. Shops and offices close about noon, and the festival begins at sunset.

Friday is the Muslim Sabbath, but it is not a holiday in Turkey. Mosques and baths will be crowded, especially on Friday morning. The day of rest, a secular one, is Sunday.

Only two religious holidays are also public holidays: Şeker Bayramı and Kurban Bayramı.

Ramazan.The Holy Month, called Ramadan in other Muslim countries, is similar in some ways to Lent. For the 30 days of Ramazan, a good Muslim lets nothing pass the lips during daylight hours: no eating, drinking, smoking, or even licking a postage stamp.

Traditionally, a cannon shot signalled the end of the fast at sunset. The fast is broken with flat pide (bread) if possible. Lavish dinners are given and may last far into the night. Before dawn, drummers may circulate through town to awaken the faithful so they can eat before sunrise.

During Ramazan, restaurants may be closed from dawn to nightfall, and in conservative towns it’s bad form for anyone - non-Muslims included - to smoke, munch snacks or sip drinks in public view. Business hours may change and be shorter. As non-Muslims, it’s understood that you get to eat and drink when you like, and in the big cities you’ll find lots of nonfasting Muslims right beside you, but it’s best to be discreet and to maintain a polite low visibility.

The 27th day of Ramazan is Kadir Gecesi, the Night of Power, when the Quran was revealed and Mohammed was appointed the Messenger of God.

The fasting of Ramazan is a worthy, sacred act and a blessing to Muslims. Pregnant or nursing women, the infirm and aged, and travellers are excused, according to the Quran, if they feel they cannot keep the fast.

Şeker Bayramı.Also called Ramazan Bayramı or İd es-Seğir, this is a three-day festival at the end of Ramazan. Şeker means sugar or candy. During this festival children traditionally go door to door asking for sweet treats, Muslims exchange greeting cards and pay social calls, and everybody enjoys drinking lots of tea in broad daylight after fasting for Ramazan. The festival is a national holiday when banks and offices are closed and hotels, buses, trains and planes are heavily booked.

Kurban Bayramı.The most important religious and secular holiday of the year, Kurban Bayramı (kurban means ‘sacrifice’) is equivalent in importance to Christmas in Christian countries.

The festival commemorates Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac on Mt Moriah (Genesis 22; Quran, Sura 37). In the story, God orders Abraham to take Isaac, the son of his old age, up to Mt Moriah and sacrifice him. Abraham takes Isaac up the mountain and lays him on the altar, but at the last moment God stops Abraham, congratulates him on his faithfulness, and orders him to sacrifice instead a ram tangled in a nearby bush, which Abraham does.

Following the tradition today, 2.5 million rams are sacrificed on Kurban Bayramı in Turkey each year. For days beforehand you’ll see herds of sheep being paraded through streets or gathered in markets. Every head of a household who can afford a sheep buys one and takes it home. Right after the early morning prayers on the actual day of Bayramı, the head of the household slits the sheep’s throat. It’s then flayed and butchered, and family and friends immediately cook up a feast. A sizeable portion of the meat is distributed to the needy, and the skin is often donated to a charity; the charity sells it to a leather products company.

Lots of people take to the road, going home to parents or friends. Everybody exchanges greeting cards. At some point you’ll probably be invited to share in the festivities.

Kurban Bayramı is a four- or five-day national holiday which you must plan for. Banks may be closed for a full week, though one or two branches will stay open in the big cities to serve foreigners. Transportation will be packed, and hotel rooms, particularly in resort areas, will be scarce and expensive.