‘Sacred Duty’: Inflation Eats Into Turkey’s Muslim Feast

‘Sacred Duty’: Inflation Eats Into Turkey’s Muslim Feast

With inflation in Turkey galloping, the sheep Gul Er buys every year for the Muslim festival of sacrifice in Istanbul looks agonizingly out of reach.

Prices have doubled or even tripled since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began an unorthodox economic experiment last year that has seen Turks' living standards suffer.

The young mother hopes to bargain down the price on one of the skimpiest-looking animals at a livestock fair held under white tents in a conservative corner of the city before the Kurban Bayrami (Eid al-Adha in Arabic) holiday.

"It is a sacred duty," she said of buying a sheep, which along with oxen and goats are sacrificed in the name of Allah, with the meat traditionally shared with the poor, friends and neighbors.

"But this year, prices are unaffordable," Er said, the stench of thousands of animals mixing with the sounds of haggling in the heavy summer air, ahead of Saturday's first full day of festivities.

According to AFP, annual inflation in Turkey has officially reached 78.6 percent, although economists and many ordinary Turks doubt government data.

Even if the official figures are to be believed, that is higher than in any other emerging market and nearly 10 times the record levels rocking the European