AUGUST (Ağustos, ah-oo-STOHSS)
It’s hot and sunny all month, and crowded at the beach resorts, where prices are at their highest, although Istanbul and other cities, and Cappadocia, have lower prices and fewer crowds—everybody’s at the beach.
This is the best time to be in Eastern Turkey, when the weather is fine and crowds are smaller than along the western beaches; but the Southeast is blazing hot.
The mass of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is held at the House of the Virgin Mary (Meryemana) near Ephesus on August 15, with the Catholic archbishop of İzmir officiating.
In mid-August, Hacı Bektaş Veli, founder of the Bektaşi order of dervishes, is commemorated at the town named after him in Cappadocia.
August Holidays
Victory Day (Zafer Bayramı, August 30) is the national holiday commemorating the decisive victory at Dumlupınar of the Turkish Republican armies over the invading Greek army during Turkey’s War of Independence in 1922.
Sarıgerme Beach near Dalaman.
Towns and cities in western Turkey celebrate their own Kurtuluş Günü (Day of Liberation) on the appropriate date when Atatürk‘s armies drove out the foreign troops on the way to victory in İzmir.
Use this handy hotel search box to check room rates and availability anywhere in Turkey during August:
If you want to attend the Rumi Commemoration Ceremonies (Şeb-i Aruz) in Konya in December and see the Whirling Dervishes, it’s not a bad idea to make your reservations now! Flights and hotel rooms are in very high demand, so I’ve teamed up with Argeus Tourism & Travel to organize travel programs to make it easier for you to participate in this unforgettable event. More…
—by Tom Brosnahan
| September |  |
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