Ramadan, the holiest month of Islam, is a time of joy. It brings people together and instills the entire community with a sense of solidarity.
A small rural community in Altunbulak in eastern Turkey's Kars sets an example of community feeling every Ramadan.
For a generation, women of this village have prepared iftar and sahur meals together and share it with the entire village.
They prepare local dishes as well as bread, börek and different kinds of pastries.
Every day during Ramadan, the women gather around the tandır, the traditional Anatolian clay or stone pit ovens used for baking bread or roasting meat. The ovens are fired by wood or charcoal. The dough is slapped on to the hot sides of the oven where it bakes very quickly. The oven is also used to make different kinds of pastries for the iftar and sahur.
These preparations are livened up by the women singing traditional songs as they work.
Hediye Temur, 45, is not originally from Altunbudak. She is married to one of the locals and has taken into preparing iftar and sahur meals with the women from the village since she moved there.
"We come together in Ramadan and prepare food for the entire village. We usually prepare the dough at night and bake it in the tandır oven. Besides bread, we also make börek, kete and katmer."
Temur said younger women who married into the village are not that interested in this centuries'-old tradition.
"The new brides are not into this kind of collective work," she said and hoped the tradition will continue.
"I have taught to my daughters how to prepare these dishes. They know very well how to cook for iftar and sahur for the villagers. We need to keep this Ramadan tradition alive," she added.
Nesim Gök, the chairman of the local Chamber of Agriculture, said that the entire village's diet changes during Ramadan.
"With the coming of Ramadan, we have an opportunity of seeing more variations on iftar tables.
"Although locals usually eat meat for dinner, in Ramadan, the women in Altunbudak adorn the iftar and sahur tables with different kinds of food made using local herbs and vegetables. This tradition should be passed down to the future generations," said Gök.
