Turks Delay Circumcision Ceremony
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - In the 25 years since Istanbul's sprawling Circumcision Palace opened, business has never been so bad.
The soccer-ball shaped go-carts children play with before their operations are empty, the orange and purple dance hall is dark and only a handful of customers are at the restaurant in the building, where circumcisions, one of the most lavishly celebrated of all Turkish ceremonies, are performed.
``We shouldn't be empty at this hour on a Sunday,'' said Kemal Ozkan, dubbed the ``King of Circumcision'' by Turkey's media for the 106,222 operations he has performed.
``I haven't seen this in 25 years,'' said Ozkan, who expects this year to perform only half of the 3,000 circumcisions he did last year.
As Turkey's economic crisis drags on, families are being forced to cut back, and in some cases, even delay one of the most important events in a Turkish boy's life.
For the rich, that means scaling back on lavish circumcision parties. Ozkan said invitations to perform circumcisions at expensive hotels have fallen from seven or eight a weekend last year to just about zero.
``Rich people are afraid of ... showing off during the economic crisis,'' said Ozkan, Turkey's most famous sunnetci, or circumciser. He is a celebrity in Turkey, having circumcised boys on horseback, on camels and in mid-air during a flight.
Middle-class Turks have been delaying the operations as they struggle to cope with a crisis that has seen the Turkish lira lose half of its value in the past six months. Poor Turks traditionally depend on their municipalities for free mass circumcisions or wait until they are drafted. The Turkish military circumcises recruits for free.
Ali Ozbek, an engineer, said he delayed the circumcision of his son, Ekin, for two years because money was so tight. He finally agreed to the operation earlier this month, but only because his son was already 8 years old and the surgery becomes more difficult as a boy grows older.
``We felt we had to do it now,'' Ozbek said.
Turk boys, in accordance with Islamic tradition, are circumcised, usually between the ages of five and 11.
Traditionally, boys parade through the streets for the occasion, dressed up like little princes in white suits with capes, holding gold-trimmed scepters. A white sash across their chests says ``Masallah,'' Arabic for ``If God wills it.''
In Turkey, circumcision is so central an event in a man's life that the Turkish word for a wedding party and a circumcision celebration are the same.
Such celebrations date back centuries. The greatest of all circumcision parties may have been the 52-day celebration that the Ottoman Sultan Murad III threw for his son, Mehmet, in 1582.
``It is a coming of age,'' said Ottoman historian Metin And. ``It is not only religious. It proves that the boy is a man, that he is brave.''
Ozkan says the success of Circumcision Palace, a two-floor reception hall and restaurant in a wealthy Istanbul neighborhood, is due not only to the festive celebrations that are held there, but to the fact that he uses local anesthesia. Traditionally, Turkish boys were held tightly by a relative and no anesthesia was used. Most sunnetcis now use anesthesia.
At Circumcision Palace, summer Sundays are the most popular days and two mass circumcisions are usually performed. Recently, only an afternoon session has been held.
Most of Ozkan's customers are middle-class Turks who can afford the $450 charge for the procedure and party. But that price is about twice what many civil servants earn in a month, and is four times what the operation alone costs at a hospital. Ozkan demands payment in lira linked to a foreign currency to protect himself from the devaluation.
The celebrations at Circumcision Palace start with a clown wearing a wig made of yellow string and a big ball on his nose dancing and joking with the boys about their favorite soccer clubs.
During a recent Sunday, about 200 relatives gathered in the ballroom, with some of the women wearing evening gowns. Most of the men wore jackets and ties and several have video cameras.
The surgery, which takes place on a velvet chair in the middle of the ballroom, is filmed and broadcast on a movie screen by the dais.
After the operations, the boys dance with their mothers before being rushed off to a side room where they are stitched.
``We had fun and there was no pain for the children,'' said Ercan Guvenc, the father of one of 11 boys circumcised at the ceremony.
Ozkan said that while business is bad, he's optimistic that his future is bright, given Turkey's high birth rate. Sitting in his restaurant above Circumcision Palace, he points to a group of teen-age girls dining on shish kebab, and considers that each of them might have at least two sons.
``Look,'' he said. ``Fourteen children waiting for me.''
Originally published August 17, 2001.
