Do they celebrate New Year in the Turkish Republic?
New Year (Yılbaşı) in Turkey is considered a holiday and a day off. In the country, it is not forbidden to celebrate it, but it is undesirable to call Father Frost (here it is called Noel Baba - Saint Nicholas) or decorate the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, many do it, and the New Year's extravaganza more and more captures the country. Especially in cities where people from Europe live.
In 1926, the Gregorian calendar was introduced in Turkey. From this moment until 1934 the New Year was celebrated on the first Saturday of January. The new 1935-th was already accustomed to us - from December 31 to January 1. But the official weekend of January 1 was very recently, in 1981. In addition, there are two more "new years" in Turkey - the Zoroastrian Navruz Bayram (March 21, it is still popular among the people) and the Muslim one according to the lunar calendar (it has a floating date, in 2018 it will be in September).
"Happy New Year!" In Turkish will sound like "Mutlu Yillar!". There is even a song in the country that has become traditional - Mutlu Yillara Sana (Happy New Year!). She sings on the motif of the famous Happy Birthday. Celebrating the New Year is popular in big cities (Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa, Izmir). Actively met the change of years in Istanbul, where many Christians live. Celebrations take place in the European part of the old city - in Taksim Square, and in several other places. Shows, fireworks and concerts are held on the so-called Turkish Riviera - in the Mediterranean resorts, where many foreign tourists.
December 31 in the country - a normal working day. Enterprises and organizations often let workers go home early so that they can prepare for the celebration. On the streets of large cities on this day are often traffic jams, everyone is in a hurry to finish urgent business and go on a visit. The change of years is often met in the park, from where it is convenient to observe the festive salutes. There are also restaurant programs for those wishing to spend time in the institution. Residents of small towns, elderly people and peasants on New Year's Eve mostly go to bed. Some of them, on the contrary, come ahead of time to a big city for holidays.
To the people of Turkey, spiritual leaders advise not to mix New Year and Christmas symbols (although, in our understanding, it is difficult to divide it). Moreover, many residents of the country put and decorate the tree, considering it a New Year's symbol without any Christian pegs. That is, a Christmas tree and decorations for it to buy in cities is not a problem. As a New Year's dish on the table is popular stuffed turkey. In addition to standard gifts, relatives and friends often present each other with special New Year's lottery tickets. Festive atmosphere in the streets of big cities reigns thanks to the illumination and beautiful show-windows. In the shops there are pre-Christmas sales.
