Much is made of male circumcision (or sünnet) in Turkey, a ritual that many believe marks the first step of a boy becoming a man. Photographer Bradley Secker has gained access to Istanbul’s Circumcision Palace, which claims to have performed more than 100,000 of the operations since it opened in 1976.
Bradley Secker
Main image: Photograph: Bradley Secker
Fri 19 Aug 2016 05.17 EDT Last modified on Wed 19 Oct 2022 12.06 EDT
The day of the sünnet is a big celebration for Turkish families, marking the first step in their son’s passage from boyhood to man. Group circumcisions are common, particularly at Istanbul’s Sünnet Sarayı (Circumcision Palace).
The boys dress up in traditional costumes, complete with a beaded crown and white satin cape, reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire. They are sultans for the day.
The boys in today’s group are seven- to eight-years-old. Dr Özkan says many families wait until this age so “parents can explain to their sons what is happening”.
It’s now illegal in Turkey to perform circumcision on boys between the ages of two and six to prevent psychological trauma: “If the children don’t understand why it’s happening, they just remember the pain,” Dr Özkan says.
After a final check by doctors, the boys and their families leave the Sünnet Sarayı in the Levant district of Istanbul. Increasingly private hospitals in Turkey are encouraging families to carry out the operation during the first few months of their child’s life so they have no memory of it at all. Of course, they may still have the party later.
