RAMADAN IN ANKARA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005851

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS PHUM TU
SUBJECT: RAMADAN IN ANKARA


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1. (SBU) SUMMARY. The holy month of Ramadan, or Ramazan as
it is known in Turkey, is welcomed in Ankara with a wide
variety of degrees of observance of prayer and fasting. Acts
of compassion and donations to the poor increase, while
family bonds are affirmed over the break-fast table.
Compared to other parts of the country, or other Muslim
countries, public life in Ankara does not change much.
Meanwhile, Turkey's leading Justice and Development Party
(AKP) makes extensive use of its party structure, grassroots
organization, and hold on various levels of government to get
its services (and message) out to voters during Ramadan. END
SUMMARY.

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RAMADAN IN ANKARA: A VARIED PICTURE
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2. (U) Ankara shows little outward sign of change during this
lunar month, this year from September 24 to October 22, apart
from festive holiday lights, a few signs welcoming the month
of Ramadan, and more prominent grocery store signs
advertising holiday bounty. Most restaurants find sufficient
custom to keep regular hours, as do businesses. Many
neighborhoods hear the 4am drummer rousing fasters for the
pre-dawn meal; others do not. Driving in Ankara, wild at the
best of times, becomes even livelier later in the day, as the
pre-iftar rush clogs Ankara's narrow streets.


3. (SBU) Some Turks in Ankara commit to keeping the fast for
the entire month; others fast only for a day or two (at the
beginning of the month, or if they are invited to an iftar),
or not at all. Even Muslims who do not generally observe
other aspects of Islam may fast. DAO observes that the
majority of military officers fast, even Special Forces
stationed in Northern Iraq. Many people do so out of
tradition or because they believe fasting is healthy, as well
as for religious reasons. Some Turks abandon other vices for
the month, including cigarettes or alcohol. There is no
visible social pressure to fast, and no noticeable
condemnation of those who do not. Embassy officers found
that even the cafeteria underneath Kocatepe Mosque -- the
capital's largest and most prominent -- on a Friday does a
lively lunchtime business. One very observant Muslim in
Ankara's Or-An neighborhood stressed the importance of
fasting coming from the heart, not from outside imposition;
she expressed satisfaction that unlike some countries, in
Turkey, observance is really a matter of choice and not
compulsion.


4. (U) Iftar is the break-fast dinner, announced each dusk by
the early evening call to prayer (or, for those listening to
the radio, by a brief word from the announcer, who announces
three separate iftar times for three zones across Turkey).
The meals are often home events, bringing together friends
and family. Some public iftars, like the one outside
Kocatepe Mosque, are paid for by a different business or
family every night; the sponsor's name appears on a prominent
banner. Restaurants typically do a brisk iftar business,
with plates of light food or soup ready and waiting for
diners, or bountiful buffets. Fasters often break the fast
with olives or a date, followed by soup and the main meal.
At this time of year, bakeries prepare a round,
sesame-crusted loaf called "pide," ubiquitous at iftars. In
the late afternoon, a frequent sight is of Turks with bags of
pide under their arms hurrying home. Another Ramadan
specialty is the sweet, milky, starch-based pastry called
"gullac," flavored with walnuts, pistachios, or strawberries,
and sometimes sprinkled with pomegranate seeds for a classic
Ottoman effect.


5. (U) Ramadan is a time of compassion and giving, an aspect
evident in Ankara on several levels. Strangers on a dolmus
(small communal bus) offer chunks of bread at iftar time.
People give trays of baklava to friends or their doorman's
family to ease the burden of daily evening entertaining.
Social welfare NGOs are especially active in bringing their
services to the poor and frequently host iftars. Muslims are
reminded of the compulsory obligation to pay zekat, or
one-fortieth of their wealth, to the poor. In addition,
non-compulsory "fitre" donations are common and encouraged at
this time. The Religious Affairs Directorate, the Diyanet,
sets the standard minimum fitre amount in money by tallying
the cost of 1460 grams of wheat, 2920 grams of barley, 2920
grams of raisins, and 2920 grams of dates; this year the

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fitre is set at about 4.5 YTL. Supermarkets prepare boxes of
staples--rice, flour, lentils, oil, tomato paste and other
essentials of the Turkish kitchen--meant to be given as
Ramadan gifts. The prepared boxes are exempt from the VAT.

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AKP: NOBODY DOES IT BETTER
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6. (SBU) Ramadan provides an opportunity to reach out and
provide services to the public, and no organization in Ankara
province is more visible or effective than the ruling Justice
& Development Party (AKP),which takes full advantage of its
party organization, the municipality, and the national
government. AKP-held Ankara municipality is serving dinner
to thousands every night at 30 municipal iftar sites around
town, marked with posters signed by Mayor Melih Gokcek. AKP
youth branch officials tells us that their iftar tent,
organized by the Ankara provincial level youth branch, has
different nightly sponsors: AKP members or those who wish to
be associated with the party. Prime Minister and AKP
chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a different public
iftar every night and has reportedly instructed AKP members
to go out and break the fast with the poor, rather than at
home or in expensive hotels.


7. (SBU) The Ankara Province AKP organization is preparing
4000 food baskets at a cost of 35 YTL each (approx. USD 20).
Provincial-level women's and youth auxiliaries are effective
at distributing these to the poor. According to Women's
Auxiliary Chair Selma Kavaf, the women's branches are also
active in providing winter clothing, school supplies,
household materials, green cards for health care, and
communication with social assistance funds for handicapped
children -- year round, but especially at Ramadan. Chairman
of the Ankara Province AKP, Nurettin Akman, told us that
under Erdogan's orders, the provincial deputies are grouped
and sent out to Ankara's 24 provinces to meet with the
people, three days a week for two weeks during Ramadan.
According to Akman, Erdogan's background as a municipal mayor
and a man of the people has developed his sensitivity to
people's needs.

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ELSEWHERE IN TURKEY: OBSERVANCE IS HIGH
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8. (SBU) Ramadan as experienced in Ankara does not
necessarily represent "the Turkish approach" to Ramadan.
Professor Hasan Onat, from the Faculty of Theology at Ankara
University, says that according to his research, 60-70
percent of Turks fast. Parts of the country experience a
substantial difference in daily life, with restaurants closed
during the day and modified working hours. The Political
Counselor, traveling in the southeast, noted that while the
large city of Diyarbakir still had restaurants open during
the day, smaller towns like Bingol and Batman evinced more
universal observance with nothing to offer beyond the grocery
store.


9. (SBU) Diyarbakir municipality has decided to establish
iftar tents specifically in order to defuse pressure from
more radical religious groups. According to municipal
officials, even in this first year, the response has been
positive and the demand high.


10. (U) Even the national airline of the secular state,
Turkish Airlines, acknowledges the month by providing pink
iftar bags to travelers (who, according to some, are not
obliged to fast). The iftar packs contain a date, water,
cheese sandwich, and a package of Knorr instant soup.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON