New Year

I think, everybody has New Year mood now and everybody gets ready for the holiday. That is way I want to tell you something about New Year, but as always  about something Muslim.
In Muslim countries it's called Navrez and it's celebrated in spring.
Nowruz or Navrez (in Crimean Tatar) is celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox, March 20 or 21 depending on the year. It has been widely celebrated for more than 3,000 years in Central Asia and the Middle East. Today the people in the Balkans, Crimea, the Caucasus, Iran, Turkey and the Central Asian republics participate in Nowruz festivities. Throughout the Turkic world, the arrival of spring has been celebrated under different names: Nowruz, Nevruz, Navruz, Navrez, Nawrez, Nooruz, Noruz, Yıl Başı (New Year), Yeni Gün (New Day), Ulusun Ulu Günü (Great Day of the Nation) and Ergenekon Bayramı (Ergenekon Holiday). In this article, I am using the word Nowruz because it is the frequently used version in English.

Nowruz Celebrations in Crimea

Before the Soviet rule and the deportation from their homeland, Crimean Tatars actively celebrated the arrival of spring. During the long years of exile, if they observed Nowruz, it was likely in the privacy of their homes. With the return of the Tatar population to their homeland, the Nowruz festivities are being revived in Crimea. The Cultural Center in Kerch (Crimea) announced an ambitious program of drama, music and various competions to celebrate the traditional Navrez holiday. In Simferopol, the Republican Committee for Interethnic Relations and Formerly Deported Citizens, the State TV Company 'Krym' and the Crimean Tatar Art and Ethnography Foundation organized an all-day Nowruz celebration on March 20, 2010. Activities included traditional dancing and music, kuresh (wrestling), a fashion show exhibiting national dresses and display of handcrafts. Various embroidery guilds also participated in the Nowruz festivities. The Azeri people living in Simferopol joined the Crimean Tatars and brought many sweets traditionally prepared for Nowruz. 

Tatar food

The Crimean Tatars have a very rich cuisine. This wealth is the product both of their own inventiveness as well as the fact that they have lived in among several other cultures.
Meat is cooked in its fat until all the water is gone, fish are salted or dried, fruits are made into preserves or compotes, and vegetables are pickled or in the case of tomatoes and peppers, reduced to paste for storage.

Special days such as circumcisions, birthdays, engagements, weddings, births, deaths etc. are very important to the Crimean Tatars. On such days various meat dishes are prepared communally, along with various sweet and savory baked foods such as börek, cookies and pastries.

Green tea and coffee are heavily consumed. Green tea is made by pouring boiling water to a porcelain pot and adding a certain amount of green tea. The tea is poured three times into a small porcelain tea bowl, then returned to the teapot, then drunk with no further steeping. It is believed that making green tea in this way will bring abundance and plenty.

Tea and especially coffee is served accompanied by chocolate, various preserves and cookies.