A cloud of pink sugar helps a child break the fast during Ramadan, a religious rite celebrated in Istanbul with food and festivities—even by those not observing the holy month. Ninety-nine percent of Turkish citizens define themselves as Muslim. Yet the government strictly upholds secular principles, adopted when the modern republic was founded in 1923. While the muezzin’s call to prayer is still heard five times daily throughout the city, religious expression, such as wearing a turban or a veil, is forbidden in government offices, public universities, or on publicly broadcast television.