Kazan Tatar Traditions in M？hemmet Mehdiyev’s The Place Where Cranes Land Novel

The life of Kazan Tatars, whose long standing history, culture and their country life descriptions are written in detail by M？hemmet Mehdiyev in his “Tornalar T？？ken Cirde” (The Place Where Cranes Land) novel. In his novel, he mentioned Tatar’s national holiday Saban Toyu (Plow Celebrations), which roots back to hundreds of years ago, and some local and domestic traditions. Saban Toyu is still celebrated among Tatars even today. Although theme of this holiday changed in years, it did not lose its roots and national importance. Some Tatar traditions differing from one city to another and even differ from town to town, became a local celebration ritual. For example, “Cilek C？yu” (Collecting Strawberries) is carried out in towns where strawberries are planted, while “？el Beylev” (Scarf Knitting) is carried out where goats are. On the other hand, “Soldatka Ozatu” (Farewell to the Soldiers) is carried out in every town where Tatars live, because every young man reaching 18 years of age is obliged to military service. M？hemmet Mehdiyev also mentions Kazan Tatar family traditions in his novel. He mentioned that these traditions not only gather family together but also they have effects on a person’s life. Considering that some nearly faded traditions are mentioned in his novel, makes his novel important in terms of understanding Kazan Tatars. As an example to these faded traditions; “Avlak ？y” (Desolate House) can be considered. According to this tradition, the youngsters of the town meet in one of their friend’s house in the autumn and in the winter months. Since these traditions are not continued anymore, the only ones who know them are old people, which also fade away as time passes. The new generation can learn about these old traditions from novels. Traditions are the bridges between the past and the future, which enables a nation to keep its identity