Ramadan (Ramazan in Turkish) is a month long time of fasting, prayer and celebration during which pious Muslims neither drink nor eat anything, even water, from sun up to sun down. Businesses, banks and official places are not closed during this time. In some parts of Turkey, such as most of inland and eastern locations as locals are more conservative than people in the rest of the country, it is considered to be bad taste to eat snacks or drink sodas in front of locals in public places or transport—to be completely on the safe side, watch how localfolk act—but restaurants are usually open and it is no problem to eat in them as usual, though some restaurant owners use it as an opportunity for a much-needed vacation (or renovation) and shut their business completely for 30 days. However, you will unlikely see any closed establishment in big cities, central parts of the cities, and touristy towns of western and southern Turkey. At sunset, call for prayer and a cannon boom, fasting observers immediately sit down for iftar, their first meal of the day. Banks, businesses and official places are NOT closed during this time.

During Ramadan, many city councils set up tent-like structures in the major squares of the cities to serve passers-by (or those in poverty) warm meals during the sunset (iftar), free of charge. Travellers can easily join in the queue, no matter how 'foreign' they look (In fact, no one looks foreign in Turkey where you can see locals who have blond hair with blue eyes to those with curly black hair and dark complexion).

Immediately following Ramazan is the Eid-ul Fitr, or the three-day national holiday of Ramazan Bayrami, also called Şeker Bayrami (i.e. "Sugar" or more precisely "Candy Festival") during which banks, offices and businesses are closed and travel will be heavy. However, many restaurants, cafes and bars will be open.

Kurban Bayrami (pronounced koor-BAHN bahy-rah-muh) in Turkish, (Eid el-Adha in Arabic) or sacrifice holiday is the most important Islamic religious festival of the year. It lasts for several days and is a public holiday in Turkey. Almost everything will be closed during that time (many restaurants, cafes, bars and some small shops will be open however). Kurban Bayrami is also the time of the annual pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca, so both domestic and international travel is intense in Turkey at this time. If you are in smaller towns or villages you may even observe an animal, usually a goat but sometimes a cow, being slaughtered in a public place. In recent years the Turkish government has cracked down on these unofficial slaughterings so it is not as common as it once was.

The dates of these religious festivals change according to the Muslim lunar calendar and thus occur 10-11 days (the exact difference between Gregorian and Lunar calendars is 10 days and 21 hrs) earlier each year. According to this,

• Şeker Bayramı falls Half-day on Thursday, September 9th, full-days on September 10th, 11th & 12th (Friday-Saturday-Sunday) in 2010; half-day on Tuesday, August 30th, full-days on August 31st, September 1st & 2nd (Wednesday-Thursday-Friday) in 2011; and half-day on Saturday, August 18th, full-days on August 19th, 20th & 21st (Sunday-Monday-Tuesday) in 2012.

• Kurban Bayramı falls on November 16th , (Tuesday), and continues for four days until the evening of November 20th (Saturday) (but be aware that people will be traveling through Sunday, November 21st) in 2010; November 6th, (Sunday), and continues for four days until the evening of November 10th (Thursday) (but most Turkish people will still be on holiday or traveling on Friday, November 4th, through Sunday, November 13th) in 2011; and October 25th (Thursday), and continues for four days until the evening of October 29th (Monday, Turkey's Republic Day, a major patriotic holiday), with travel effects through October 30th (Tuesday) in 2012.

During both religious holidays, many cities (but not all) provide public transport for free (but note that these do not include privately owned minibuses, dolmuşes, taxis, or inter-city buses). This depends on the place and time. For example, Istanbul's public transport authority provided free transport in Eid-ul Fitr 2008, but not in Eid-ul Adha 2008 when it passengers have to pay a discounted rate. For some years, it was all free in both holidays, while in some others there was no discount at all. To be sure, check whether other pessengers use a ticket/token or not.