Eid al-Fitr

The Turkish people and the government have not left millions of earthquake victims alone as the nation will celebrate the Eid al-Fitr, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, vowing to intensify works for temporary shelters for them in the coming weeks.

Households' domestic tourism expenditures have increased by 96.7 percent last year from 2021 to stand at 114.3 billion Turkish Liras (around $5.9 billion), according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

With only a few days left until Eid al-Fitr, people have started thronging the shops in Istanbul's Eminönü district, famous for traditional Turkish delight and Ottomon-inspired sweets, to do holiday shopping.

As preparations for Ramadan are ongoing, in Eminönü, flamboyant candies, chocolates and Turkish delights have taken their place on the counters.

Torrential rains are expected throughout the country as of April 18, while the precipitation will also last during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, according to the latest weather report of the Turkish State Meteorological Service.

The Eid al-Fitr holiday is giving a boost to Türkiye's tourism activity as bookings by holidaymakers rise 40 to 45 percent this year compared with last year.

The Eid marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The Eid holiday starts on April 21 and ends on April 23, but families are merging a short school break and Eid to go on a long nine-day vacation.

The Interior Ministry has sent a circular to all governor's offices on traffic measures to be implemented during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, nearly 100,000 police officers will be on duty during the 10-day period.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the joint presidential candidate, has vowed to increase a bi-annual premium paid for the pensioners before two religious holidays up to the level of minimum wage which is currently 8,500 Turkish Liras.

Holiday bookings have started to pick up at the end of March after both local and foreign holidaymakers either delayed or cancelled travel plans in the wake of the devastating earthquakes in early February.

Some 28 people were killed on roads in the first four days of the Eid al-Adha holiday, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has announced.

"While eight people have died on July 8, eight died the day after, the first day of the holiday," Soylu said on social media. "Nine have died on the second day, while three have died on the last day of the festival."

Millions hit the road as Türkiye is celebrating the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which marks the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage and the second most important religious festivity after Eid al-Fitr, causing traffic jams in many cities.