AEROPORT TRANSFER

Holidays

Official holidays

• Jan 1: New Year's Day

National holidays

• Apr 23: National Sovereignty and Children's Day (anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Grand National Assembly)
• May 19: Atatürk Commemoration and Youth & Sports Day (the arrival of Atatürk in Samsun, and the beginning of the War of Independence)
• Aug 30: Victory Day (victory over invading forces in 1922).
• Oct 29: Republic Day (anniversary of the declaration of the Turkish Republic)

Religious holidays

• Eid-ul Fitr (known locally as Şeker Bayramı, i.e. ‘Candy Festival’): Three-day festival during which sweets are eaten to celebrate the end of the fast of Ramadan.
• Eid-ul Adha (known locally as Kurban Bayramı, i.e. ‘Sacrificing Festival’): Four-day festival when sacrificial sheep are slaughtered and their meat distributed to the poor.

The dates of these religious festivals change according to the Muslim lunar calendar and thus occur 10-11 days (the exact difference between Gregorian and Lunar calendars is 10 days and 21 hrs) earlier each year. According to this; Seker Bayrami will be celebrated on 23-24-25 October 2006, and 12-13-14 October 2007, and 30 September-1-2 October 2008. Kurban Bayrami will be celebrated on 31 December 2006-1-2-3 January 2007, and 20-21-22-23 December 2007, and 8-9-10-11 December 2008.

" Holiday in Turkey is the fasting month of Ramadan, known in Turkish as Ramazan. The most important holiday in Turkey is Oct 29 Republic Day (anniversary of the declaration of the Turkish Republic).

During Ramadan, many city councils set up tent-like structures in the major squares of the cities to serve passers-by (or those in poverty) warm meals during the sunset (iftar), free of charge. Travellers can easily join in the queue, no matter how 'foreign' they look (In fact, no one looks foreign in Turkey where you can see locals who have blond hair with blue eyes to those with curly black hair and dark complexion). Another impact of Ramadan on travellers is that some restaurant owners use it as an opportunity for a much-needed vacation (or renovation) and shut their business completely for 30 days, though you will unlikely see any closed establishment in big cities, central parts of the cities, and touristy towns of western and southern Turkey. As a general rule, locals in inland and eastern locations are more conservative than people in the rest of the country, so you may prefer refraining from eating, drinking, or smoking in public in those areas during the daytime through Ramadan. Watch how the local folk act.

During both religious holidays, many cities (but not all) provide public transport for free (but note that these do not include privately owned minibuses, dolmuşes, taxis, or inter-city buses). This depends on the place and time. For example, Istanbul's public transport authority provided free transport in Eid-ul Fitr 2008, but not in Eid-ul Adha 2008 when it passengers have to pay a discounted rate. For some years, it was all free in both holidays, while in some others there was no discount at all. To be sure, check whether other pessengers use a ticket/token or not.