Ramadan in Turkey

Long a fixture of public squares throughout Istanbul during Ramadan, large municipal-run tents providing a fast-breaking meal and other cultural activities are giving way to “meals-on-wheels” projects to poorer families and more localized street dinners, this was puplished in Turkish daily Hürriyet Daily News. “People meeting each other on the streets, mingling with their neighbors, everybody bringing their tables to the front of their houses – that could work out well,” Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Kadir Topba? recently said in reference to plans to localize Ramadan festivities instead of organizing them in a more central location. Monday marks the beginning of the holy month, during which observant Muslims fast between dawn and sunset for 30 days, rising each day before dawn to eat the suhoor, or morning meal, continuing their fast until they take the fast-breaking iftar after the evening prayer. Topba? said people could socialize in outdoor fast-breaking dinners on the city’s streets.