First Ramadan in Turkey....I don't want it to be lonely or boring.

Hello Samza83!

I am sure that you will be given some ideas soon.

Harmonie.

just dont eat something and dont chew a gum on street )
people will like to attack on you hehehe

Fırat'a
herhalde espri yaptın..ama yabancıların olduğu bir sitede ne kadar doğru..bugün İstanbul'da pekçok kişi oruç tutmuyor..ama hiçkimse birbirine karışmıyor..bence mesajını kaldırmalısın..ya da düzeltmeli

Hi, my friend is from France and living in Adana or Adarna (sorry for the wrong spell) is used to go with an association of Orphans for the Iftar break, he says that it is really amazing to be with kids at that time.. may be you can be in contact with him, I guess that there is something like that in Istanbul ..

Hello feyluse!

You could you please write in English on this Anglophone forum.

Thank you,
Harmonie.

Firat wrote:

just dont eat something and dont chew a gum on street )
people will like to attack on you hehehe

Fırat'a
herhalde espri yaptın..ama yabancıların olduğu bir sitede ne kadar doğru..bugün İstanbul'da pekçok kişi oruç tutmuyor..ama hiçkimse birbirine karışmıyor..bence mesajını kaldırmalısın..ya da düzeltmeli

Could you please take my message into consideration feyluse.

Thank you for your comprehension,
Harmonie.

Firat you're funny. no one cares if you eat in public or not. everyone is minding his own business.
for Samza, i suggest you to stick around Sultanahmet area, they're having great festivals and events during Ramadan nights. you'd have so much fun.
also there are big tents for iftar, open for everyone. you can join and meet new people too

feyluse, i have doubts if u live in turkey or not. there are some realities of this country. just read newspapers or walk down the streets the rest of istanbul. dont show this country so modern. i just warned this guy in funny way. but i am 51% serious. stick it in your mind. so does ArvaritA.

Firat, you're obviously livin somewhere else. There has never been such stuff. we'd appreciate if you just dont make things up like that. it's pretty disrespectful. thanks.

Good thing I had my childlike Turkish and old friend google translate for this one

What happened to this thread? I am assuming that everyone in Turkey is free to fast or not. I know even as a Muslim, I didn't last year as directed by my doctor. For those who do observe the month is meant to be one of sacrifice, growth and reflection and that is what my question is getting at...

sure, everyone is absolutely free. "let there be no compulsion" is our principle. however, each ramadan we get those ppl makin up stories to make muslims look bad but you will see how it is for yourself wen you get here hope you'll enjoy to the max

just to let you know, I moderated a couple of messages here

I have never seen anyone attack someone. Also, not everyone in Turkey fasts so not everyone will be looking at you if you are eating. However, it is rude to eat or drink in front of people during Ramadan since you know they are hungry and trying to please Allah. I remember those who were not fasting would cover their mouth with their hand when drinking water. Turkish people are super hospitable as much of the middle east is and they love guests. Just ask a fasting neighbor or co-worker what their plans are for breaking the fast and tell them you were trying to think of ideas for yourself. You will probably get invited to their homes or wherever they will be. I remember even non-fasting Turks invited me for dinner. As I am sure you know, in Islam if you do not fast then it is important to feed people instead. Hope this was helpful and Iyi Ramazanlar (Happy Ramadan) to all!!! :-)

Selam Alekum Jehan Thanks for the encouraging words. I can tell you my friends and neighbours got a lot of good food from me last year!

This is Istanbul. Be aware! Yes maybe you did not see any of that kind of possible events but we (  me and some people here) know what happened in past.

You can easily search by googling it:

sendika.org/english/yazi.php?yazi_no=13362

In Ramadan, people are more aggressive. Some of them are like [moderated], ready to attack. And it is very hot Istanbul in August, so hunger and temperature is together like last year.

Let me say i could drink a bottle of water in a bus, on a street or another place . But If i have tried to drink beer or something like that in a public place, i cant know what would have happened to me.

SO, it is that.

ANd i wonder why you are excited about that Samza83. Did you go to university in Istanbul?

the link you posted made me laugh. it's not even a news website nor it's reported from any news agency. it's pretty obvious why you and the other guy are tryin to make ppl here look that way. its true that they get more aggresive, however no one bothers himself gettin involved in a fight while police is everywhere especially. makes no sense at all. they rather try to get back home and rest as soon as they can.
but it's well known that the anti-religious side of the city keeps makin up such stories in order to give muslims a bad name.
in all cases, she will see for herself how true what you guys keep posting is.
peace

Yes i made up those kind of stories to keep  tourists and expatsaway from Turkey.

Here is Turkey, there are a lot of that kind of people which you dont think there are.

hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=the-8216sex-bus8217-quarrel-resulted-in-violence-in-istanbul-2011-04-18

Yes they will see and i hope and wish good things.

By the way ,ArvaritA where were your born in?

the news is not even relevant to the fasting issue we're talking about. although i doubt that what the couple said would be true since the driver is not able to see the hand-holding while driving whatsoever. even if we take it as a true news, you're not entitled to generalize the whole community with the same attitude.

let's just leave it to ppl to see for themselves and not turn this forum into a debating area. fair enough?

i'm not originally turkish, that's all you should know.
peace..

CursedChico wrote:

ANd i wonder why you are excited about that Samza83. Did you go to university in Istanbul?

No I am American and went to a big university over here. We had two big Muslim student organizations and a very large Muslim community to the iftars and Eid parties were pretty nice.

CursedChico wrote:

Yes i made up those kind of stories to keep  tourists and expatsaway from Turkey.

Here is Turkey, there are a lot of that kind of people which you dont think there are.

hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=the-8216sex-bus8217-quarrel-resulted-in-violence-in-istanbul-2011-04-18

Yes they will see and i hope and wish good things.

By the way ,ArvaritA where were your born in?

Sorry I am not making the connection between this article and Ramadan either.

But what I can tell you, if the couple in the article had tried doing this on an American bus the exact same outcome would have happened. In fact here they probably would have been fined for 'indecent behaviour.' This isn't a secular vs. non secular issue it's a common sense issue. Common sense says you don't get too affectionate in public in either Turkey or the USA.


I am American (from a very strong ethnic culural background) and I made the choice to become Muslim. That's why I loved Turkey---choice and the best of both words in my opinion: Islam & secular perspectives.

But this thread isn't about that, it's about how one newcomer can have the best Ramadan possible:)

Hello CursedChico!

You are off-topic in your last message.

Please concentrate on the initial topic which is First Ramadan in Turkey.

Thank you,
Harmonie.

dear peoples we need just respect each other...

ArvaritA wrote:

sure, everyone is absolutely free. "let there be no compulsion" is our principle. however, each ramadan we get those ppl makin up stories to make muslims look bad but you will see how it is for yourself wen you get here hope you'll enjoy to the max

Turkey is a respected place same like Egypt

Jehan143 wrote:

I have never seen anyone attack someone. Also, not everyone in Turkey fasts so not everyone will be looking at you if you are eating. However, it is rude to eat or drink in front of people during Ramadan since you know they are hungry and trying to please Allah. I remember those who were not fasting would cover their mouth with their hand when drinking water. Turkish people are super hospitable as much of the middle east is and they love guests. Just ask a fasting neighbor or co-worker what their plans are for breaking the fast and tell them you were trying to think of ideas for yourself. You will probably get invited to their homes or wherever they will be. I remember even non-fasting Turks invited me for dinner. As I am sure you know, in Islam if you do not fast then it is important to feed people instead. Hope this was helpful and Iyi Ramazanlar (Happy Ramadan) to all!!! :-)

Happy Ramadan
i visited turkey almost 14 times in my life and i am sure turkey is like egypt with good hospitality and good citizens and some times some crazy folks
God bless all.

ArvaritA wrote:

the link you posted made me laugh. it's not even a news website nor it's reported from any news agency. it's pretty obvious why you and the other guy are tryin to make ppl here look that way. its true that they get more aggresive, however no one bothers himself gettin involved in a fight while police is everywhere especially. makes no sense at all. they rather try to get back home and rest as soon as they can.
but it's well known that the anti-religious side of the city keeps makin up such stories in order to give muslims a bad name.
in all cases, she will see for herself how true what you guys keep posting is.
peace

Dear Samza83

i can says many disadvantage about Turkey but About Ramadan dont worry about it i am turkish and drink water,eat ice cream on the street so far nothing happened which is what suppose to,

specially in Big cities in Turkey very democratic about Islam so there is nothing to worry about it also you can see many thousands years old churches still open and very active

richardbozkurt wrote:

Dear Samza83

i can says many disadvantage about Turkey but About Ramadan dont worry about it i am turkish and drink water,eat ice cream on the street so far nothing happened which is what suppose to,

specially in Big cities in Turkey very democratic about Islam so there is nothing to worry about it also you can see many thousands years old churches still open and very active

well said bro

Anyway friend.As a summary as in all counteis there are pervert people like attacting U on the street cause U are not on fast but I dont think ( especially in big cities) that it would be a problem if U eat or dirnk but U should not do it very much in front of people as a respect to them also.Shortly Turkey is a cool country, not like other very strict arabic countries.Poeple here are mostly free to live what their life is and this is the real nice thing.

Things that people have said are funny. It is just an anxiety that some people in Turkey tries to keep alive for the compression of islamic beings.
Totally agree with ArvaritA who has a free look on the issue.