Turkish Circumcision Party.

I got invited to a Turkish circumcision party yesterday otherwise known as a Sunet party. I kept on having to call it a snip party and make scissors action with my fingers,  until I found out the Turkish word for it. I set off at  around 11am and made my way to the town of Soke which is on The Aegean Coast of Turkey. It only took about an hour and when I pulled up in the car, I was very surprised to see the street cordoned off and masses of people already sitting down eating. It appeared that I was late, but not so late that I had actually missed anything.

It was actually a joint circumcision party between three brothers. Aged 8, 4 and 7 months. They had already been to the hospital three weeks earlier where the operation had been performed by a doctor. I was secretively relieved to be spared the ordeal of having to listen to tears. I had previously heard stories coming from the east of Turkey of  someone unqualified performing the procedure at home.

The street was cordoned off and crowded with lots of people.

Looking around the hundreds of people, I took notice of what the women were wearing and I was secretly relieved to have thought about my dress code earlier. All the women were wearing blouses that covered all their arms and skirts that went down to the floor. The temperature yesterday was 38 and normally I am seen with sleeveless shirts on,  however  I had used a trick taught to me, when I first came to Turkey. If you female,  and are  invited to an event, then the safest dress code to wear is something that does not show any cleavage, your stomach, your upper arms or your knees.

Getting ready for the final event of riding the horse through the streets

A food van had pulled up and everyone was eating. As soon as all the plates were taken away,  the three boys whose party it was,  started getting ready. They dressed smartly in white trousers, shirt, waistcoat and shoes. Over the top they had a cape which was blue and white, a cap of the same color and then a cane finished of all their attire. While they were getting ready, the local iman had come from the mosque and was reading a passage from the Qur’an over the microphone.

The lads seemed to be delighted and enjoying the day.

Along came two horses and all the children had their pictures took on the horse. Next was the parade through the street. Obviously the baby could not sit on a horse but the other two lads jumped on their horse and started making their way through the streets. It is traditional for cars to follow them beeping their horns and flashing their lights.

The horse is ready and waiting for his rider.

Whilst those in western culture could be  shocked at such a big public celebration for such as a personal procedure, in Turkey it is  the making of a man as well as performed for hygiene reasons.  I am just happy that the hospital is used for these procedures as horror stories in the past really have broken my heart.

FURTHER READING ON CIRCUMCISION IN TURKEY.