Christmas in Turkey

To be honest, I have never spent Christmas in Turkey, nor am I very interested in doing so. The reason is very simple: because there is no Christmas in Turkey (and all my family is in the Czech Republic). On December 24 and 25 people work and go to school like any other day and most of them don´t have even the slightest idea what is happening in many other countries, not necessarily christian, but with the christian tradition let´s say (because that is the case of my country where most of the people are atheists).

The funny thing is that even a lot of English teachers mistake Christmas with the New Year´s Eve. Why? Because they call it the same in Turkish (they usually use the French word Noel for both) and some of the things we do on Christmas, they do on New Year´s Eve. They sometimes get a little Christmas tree and give gifts to each other at midnight. Still, they like to celebrate it with their friends and many choose to party. Oh and various shops and especially shopping centres have Christmas decorations. You can also easily get plenty of Christmas stuff, such as napkins, candles, mugs with Santa etc.

Anyway, this Christmas/New Year´s Eve trend depends on people. Some welcome it and enjoy celebrating it. Some say that it is not a Turkish tradition and it just copies Europeans and Americans.

I spoke to a Turkish girl who has spent Christmas in England once. She was glowing when telling me about her experience. I was happy because sometimes the Turkish idea of Christmas is not so flattering. They for example say that it is a commercial holiday. I agree, unfortunately it is. But I love buying gifts for my family (especially here in Turkey – when coming home, I feel like a Turkish Santa Claus) and all that thing with the Christmas tree and colourful boxes under it. So whenever I have the chance, I try to tell the people here about Christmas. About the traditions, about why we Europeans and Americans (talking about both North and South Americans) love it so much, why it is so special. It is just one of the many many missions I promised myself to complete in here. I also wish all of us understood better the most important holidays in Turkey and people weren´t judging each other´s culture without having enough information.