RAMADAN IN ANKARA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005851 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS PHUM TU SUBJECT: RAMADAN IN ANKARA ANKARA 00005851 001.2 OF 002 ¶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. -------------- RAMADAN IN ANKARA: A VARIED PICTURE -------------- ¶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 ANKARA 00005851 002.2 OF 002 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. -------------- AKP: NOBODY DOES IT BETTER -------------- ¶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. -------------- ELSEWHERE IN TURKEY: OBSERVANCE IS HIGH -------------- ¶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