How to Count Working Days in Türkiye

Formula

• working days = calendar days − weekend days − public holidays

• public holidays = full-day holidays + half-day holidays × 0.5

• Calendar days: all the days in the range, the start and the end day included.

• Weekend days: Saturdays and Sundays; only Sundays where Saturday is a working day.

• Full-day holidays: public and religious holidays on weekdays. A holiday on a weekend is already off, so it does not come off a second time.

• Half-day holidays: the eves (arefe) of Ramazan and Kurban Bayramı, and 28 October. Work goes on until 1 pm.

For your own dates, use the working days calculator; it also lists every holiday it takes off.

Step-by-step example

The working days of March 2026:

1. March 2026 has 31 calendar days.
2. The month starts on a Sunday: 4 Saturdays and 5 Sundays, 9 weekend days. 22 weekdays are left.
3. The eve of Ramazan Bayramı is Thursday 19 March: a half day. The feast’s first day, Friday 20 March, is a full holiday; 21 and 22 March are a weekend.
4. Holidays on weekdays: 1 + 1 × 0.5 = 1.5 days.
5. Working days = 31 − 9 − 1.5 = 20.5.

The last day of a deadline in working days

In a period such as “within 10 working days”, the start day does not count; the count starts the next day. Count 10 working days from Friday 15 May 2026: 19 May and 27–29 May (Kurban Bayramı) are holidays, and the eve on 26 May is a half day. The tenth working day ends on Friday 5 June 2026. Court, objection and service deadlines have their own rules; for such a deadline, check the law that sets it.

Which days are public holidays?

Under Law 2429 the public holidays are 1 January, 23 April, 1 May, 19 May, 15 July, 30 August, 28 October from 1 pm and 29 October; Ramazan Bayramı (Eid al-Fitr) with the afternoon of its eve and 3 days, and Kurban Bayramı (Eid al-Adha) with the afternoon of its eve and 4 days. 1 May has been a holiday since 2009, 15 July since 2017. The law gives the feasts’ length, not their dates: under art. 5 (h) of Law no. 633, the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) sets and announces the religious days. The feasts move about 11 days earlier each year; the public holidays by year table shows each year’s feasts and working days.

Holiday eves, administrative leave and Saturdays

A holiday eve is a normal working day until noon. Some employers give the whole day off; there, count the eve as a holiday. Administrative leave (idari izin) is not a public holiday: a Prime Ministry or Presidency circular gives it to public servants only, and in the private sector the day stays a working day. Where Saturday is a working day, a feast day on a Saturday comes off the working days too.