Nation rushes to florists to celebrate Mother’s Day

ISTANBUL

Florists saw one of the busiest days of the year as Turkey marked Mother’s Day on May 8.

Like most other countries in the world, Turkey celebrates Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May every year.

“Customers usually prefer wild flowers, such as carnations and daisies, on this day,” said Yıldız Çalıoğlu, who is running a florist shop in Istanbul’s Taksim Square.

A rose was sold for 30 Turkish Liras ($2), whereas the tag price of a daisy bouquet was 40 liras ($2.7) and a carnation package was sold for 50 liras ($3.4), she said.

“It’s busy today as it is on every Mother’s Day,” said Mehmet Bener, a florist in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri.

The price of a bouquet ranges between 100 liras ($6.7) and 1,000 liras ($67), he added.

Besides the long line in front of his shop, they were in a rush to respond to online and phone orders.

Municipalities across the country distributed flowers to women to mark Mother’s Day.

In the picturesque Cappadocia region, a charming touristic hub famed for its fairy chimneys, visitors were handed flowers before getting on the hot air balloons.

U.S. citizen Marched Maynors, a mother of four, said she was very happy to receive such a gift. “Everything is wonderful here. My four kids would also appreciate this if they were here,” she told Demirören News Agency.

In the Aegean province of İzmir, engineering vehicle operator Nurcan Özgül Fetah was surprised by her 10-year-old son Çınar, who brought flowers to her workplace.

She had appeared on the media after her small bakery shop collapsed in the Oct. 30, 2000, earthquake that shook the Aegean region. When she applied for a job at the İzmir Municipality, she was assigned as a construction equipment operator.

“I was a little appalled in the first days at work here, but my colleagues were very helpful. I’m also very happy that my son is proud of my job,” she said.

On his part, Çınar Fetah said that he was very excited to see her mother driving the vehicle. “Mothers of all my friends have similar jobs - teachers or lawyers. But my mother has a hard job,” he said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan celebrated Mother’s Day in a written statement.

“I congratulate the day of mothers, who symbolize the noble traits of love, endeavor, sacrifice and clemency,” he said.

Citing Prophet Muhammad that “the paradise is under the feet of mothers,” Erdoğan said that mothers are “a complaisant haven for the members of such a civilization.”

Family and Social Services Minister Derya Yanık met with women employed within social service institutions in Ankara yesterday.

“Women and mothers can have a happier family life with opportunities provided by the government to enable them to continue on their career paths,” she said.

Members of the Red Crescent distributed gifts to mothers of martyrs in the eastern province of Van.

Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop also marked the day in a statement and thanked all mothers.