Ramadan Bayram (Eid al-Fitr) Description
Known as Ramazan Bayrami or Seker Bayrami (Sugar Festival) in Turkey, this three-day holiday marks the end of Ramadan. The celebration begins with early morning bayram namazi (prayer) at mosques, where men dressed in their finest clothes fill prayer halls and overflow into courtyards. Families visit elders to kiss their hands — a gesture of deep respect — and receive blessings and bayram harcligi (pocket money). Children go door to door collecting sweets and candies, hence the name Sugar Festival. Traditional foods include baklava, Turkish delight, and borek. Cemeteries fill with families visiting the graves of loved ones, reciting prayers and laying flowers. Government offices, banks, and most businesses close for all three days. Roads and airports are jammed as millions travel between cities for family reunions — the mass migration (bayram trafigi) is an annual logistical phenomenon. The spirit of charity and reconciliation pervades, with those estranged making peace and food distributed to the poor.
