The government received official requests in January from Romania, Bulgaria and Mongolia to send paramedics to perform mass circumcisions at the end of the academic year in June. It's the first time we have received such requests from governments. Sunnet, the Turkish word for circumcision, is seen as every Muslim male's first step towards manhood. Turkish doctors say the operation, which usually takes place when a boy is between eight and 12, is crucial to hygiene and helps to prevent prostate cancer. Mass circumcision rallies are common in rural Turkey, where poor families can have their sons circumcised by government paramedics without charge.
Politicians frequently stage the rallies during election campaigns.
Mr Kalkan said Turkey would now be undertaking this practice in Central Asia and the Balkan states where Communist rule left millions of Muslims unable to practise their religion freely until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since the end of the Cold War, Turkey has been trying to extend its political and economic influence in Central Asia, using its ethnic, cultural and linguistic links with nations in the region. The rigidly pro-Western and secular Turkish democracy has been touted by the country's American and European allies as a role model for these countries in the face of fundamentalist pressure from regimes in Iran and Afghanistan. Faced with the threat of Islamist insurgencies, rulers in the region have largely welcomed Turkey's efforts.