In Turkey, a distinction is made between official and Islamic holidays. The Islamic holidays are based on the lunar calendar and are therefore movable holidays.

Ramadan is the annual month of fasting for believers. There is no eating, drinking or smoking from dawn to dusk. After sunset, the fast is ended with a prayer and a meal - "iftar" - is eaten. It is customary for friends and relatives to visit after the iftar. The good achieved by fasting can be destroyed by six things: lying, blasphemy, secret condemnation of a third party, perjury, avarice, and covetousness. Ramadan ends with the Seker Bayrami Sugar Festival. It lasts three and a half days; the fasting are rewarded with sweets for their perseverance. Two months and ten days after the Sugar Festival, the Kurban Bayrami Festival of Sacrifice is celebrated; it serves to commemorate the sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham.