People welcome 2024 with parties, celebrations across Türkiye

ISTANBUL

Parties, celebrations and events put people in high spirits as they bid adieu to 2023 and welcomed the new year with open arms.

People filled the prominent squares across the country as events took place in several provinces to mark the start of the new year.

Taksim was the center of New Year's Eve celebrations in Istanbul. Flags, streamers and light canopies filled the streets, adding vibrant colors and illuminating the city. Local and foreign visitors who wanted to spend the New Year in Istiklal Avenue and Beyoğlu flocked to the places from the early hours of the day.

Within the scope of security measures, 2,500 points, especially Beyoğlu, Beşiktaş, Şişli and Kadıköy, were monitored with 15,000 cameras throughout the night. In Istanbul alone, 55,000 security forces were deployed for New Year's Eve.

Some people preferred Nişantaşı for New Year's celebrations. Citizens took souvenir photos in front of the illuminated trees on Abdi İpekçi Avenue, which was closed to traffic.

In Uludağ in the northwestern province of Bursa, one of the hotspot winter tourism centers, tourists celebrated the first minutes of the New Year with fireworks shows.

In the southern province of Antalya, some citizens entered 2024 at sea. Citizens assembled at Konyaaltı Beach with Turkish flags, entered the sea in the first minutes of 2024 and swam for a while.

Many local and foreign tourists preferred Palandöken Ski Center in the eastern province of Erzurum for New Year's Eve. Various treats were offered to the citizens at night, which was brightened by torchlight skiing and fireworks.

 First babies of year born

Türkiye's first baby of the new year was born in the southern province of Hatay.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, "We sincerely congratulate Fethiye and Adem couple and wish their child to grow up as a good human for our country and humanity. May you see many new years, baby Muhammet Talha."

In the southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of the Feb. 6 earthquakes, the first baby of the year was born at midnight.

 New Year's record in Antalya

Antalya broke a record in daily arrivals by air between Dec. 23 and 30, the New Year's week. Antalya, one of the most important tourism centers of the Mediterranean, received 121,139 tourists by air in the last week of the year.

According to the data of Antalya Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate, daily entries on Dec. 30 were 20,020 and 17,322 on Dec. 29.

The daily arrivals on these two days exceeded the daily arrivals of both 2022 and 2019 and were recorded as the best year-end daily arrivals in history.

In December 2023, arrivals by air were 302,505, some 7 percent above December 2022 and 32 percent above December 2019.

This number went down in history as the highest December data obtained from the international terminals of Antalya and Gazipaşa airports.

 Lottery's big prize for single ticket

Türkiye’s grand New Year’s lottery prize of 400 million Turkish Liras ($13.5 million) was won by the owner of the single ticket, purchased online, with the number 3550054.

A single ticket this year was sold for 400 liras (around $14), which enabled the buyer to win the entire jackpot.

In the 2023 New Year's Eve lottery, the total prize amount was more than 2.3 billion liras ($78 million).