January 1· Holiday

New Year's Day

The first day of the new year — a public holiday by law in all eight Turkic states; in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan 1–2 January are days off.

1 January is a public holiday by law in all eight Turkic states. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have 1–2 January off, and in Kyrgyzstan the break is longer together with Orthodox Christmas.

In the Turkic world New Year is a family holiday: festive tables are laid, trees decorated and children given presents. At midnight the heads of state address the nation, and fireworks light up Baku, Istanbul, Astana, Ashgabat, Tashkent and Budapest.

Different traditions

In Azerbaijan 31 December is celebrated together with the Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis. Türkiye has its yılbaşı night and Hungary its Szilveszter night, with big street celebrations. In Central Asia New Year is the second great festival of the year alongside spring Nowruz.

Video

Photos

Baku at night · AlixSaz / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Istanbul and the Bosphorus Bridge at night · Andrey Filippov 安德烈 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Astana at night · Matti Blume / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ashgabat by night · Hans Birger Nilsen / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Fireworks in Budapest · Christo / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
The Flame Towers seen from the Boulevard · Xoncha / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

New Year's Day

Different traditions

Video

Photos

Azerbaijan: other days