Americans in Istanbul Blog
Merhaba ve Hoş geldiniz (Hello and Welcome) to Istanbul, Turkey. The Americans in İstanbul Blog strives to provide you with the most up to date information about İstanbul and what to do during your stay.
Weather:
Please click the link below for the up to date weather forecast for Istanbul.
http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Istanbul+Turkey+TUXX0014
Sites to See:
Istanbul is a very exciting city and serves as the cultural and economic capital of the Republic of Turkey. With such a rich history, it is not hard to find amazing sites to visit. In order to help you during your stay, we have provided two links for you to ensure that you do not miss out on all this city has to offer.
Public Transportation:
With over 15 million inhabitants, Istanbul is one of the largest metropolitan cities in both Europe and Asia. We recognize that it may be daunting to find your way through this huge city. As a service to you, we have provided the link to İstanbul’s public transportation website. Through this site, you will find the necessary bus, subway, and ferry routes that will make transportation for you a little less hectic.
http://www.iett.gov.tr/en/index.php
News:
In order to help you keep up to date with the latest goings on in Istanbul and Turkey, we have included the links to several of the prominent Turkish newspapers. The first three are available in English, the rest are only in Turkish.
www.todayszaman.com/ (English)
www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/ (English)
http://english.sabah.com.tr/ (English)
www.zaman.com.tr/ (Turkish)
www.aksam.com.tr/ (Turkish)
www.radikal.com.tr/ (Turkish)
www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/ (Turkish)
www.milliyet.com.tr/ (Turkish)
www.gazetevatan.com/ (Turkish)
Holidays :
Turkey has major holidays that are times of excitement for everyone involved. Please find a listing of the major 2011 Turkish holidays below.
2011 U.S. Consulate General Closures
We will be closed on the following Turkish and American holidays in 2011.
| Date(s) | Day(s) | Holiday |
| 1 - Jan | Saturday | New Years Day |
| 17 - Jan | Monday | Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr |
| 21 - Feb | Monday | Washington's Birthday |
| 23 - April | Saturday | Milli Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bayramı (National Sovereignty and Children’s Day) |
| 1 - May | Sunday | Emek ve Dayanışma Günü (Labor and Solidarity Day) |
| 19 - May | Thursday | Atatürk’ü Anma, Gençlik ve Spor Bayramı (Ataturk Memorial, Youth and Sports Day) |
| 30 - May | Monday | Memorial Day |
| 4- July | Monday | Independence Day |
| 29 - Aug to 1 - Sept | Mon - Thu | Ramazan Bayramı (Ramadan Holiday) (from 13:00 on 9/29, Wednesday) |
| 30 - Aug | Tuesday | Zafer Bayramı (Victory Day) |
| 5 - Sept | Monday | Labor Day |
| 10 - Oct | Monday | Columbus Day |
| 28 - 29 Oct | Fri - Sat | Cumhuriyet Bayramı (Turkish Republic Day) (from 13:00 on 10/28, Friday) |
| 5 - 9 Nov | Sat - Wed | Kurban Bayramı (Sacrifice Holiday) (from 13:00 on 11/5, Monday) |
| 11 - Nov | Friday | Veteran's Day |
| 24 - Nov | Thursday | Thanksgiving Day |
| 26 - Dec | Monday | Christmas Day (in lieu of December 25 Sunday) |