Kirkpinar
Encyclopedia
Kırkpınar is a Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 oil-wrestling tournament. It is held annually, usually in late June, near Edirne
Edirne
Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...

, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 since 1346.

Description

Before each bout, the wrestlers pour olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...

 over their entire bodies, and the matches take place in an open, grassy field, with the contestants naked except for trousers made of leather, which extend to just above the knee. Victory is achieved when one wrestler either pins the other to the ground (as in many other forms of wrestling) or lifts his opponent above his shoulders.

It now holds a Guinness World Record for the longest running sports competition.

Oldest known evidence

The history of oil wrestling links straight back to 2650 BC with evidence both from Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

, Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...

 and around. The Babylonian body of evidence, a tiny bronze, was excavated near the Chafadji-temple. The bronze clearly concerns oilive wrestlers as both athletes are depicted with oilve vessels on their head.

The oldest known proof of the existence of oil-wrestling in Ancient Egypt is found in limestone from the tomb of Ptahhoteb near Saqqara
Saqqara
Saqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, as well as a number of...

 from the fifth dynasty (about 2650 BC) from the same period as the Chafadji-bronze.

Another appealing proof is about 4000 years old and painted like a cartoon in a tomb near Beni Hasan
Beni Hasan
Beni Hasan is an Ancient Egyptian cemetery site. It is located approximately 20 kilometers to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Memphis.While there are some Old Kingdom burials at the site, it was primarily used during the Middle...

 in Egypt. The deceased, who occupied this tomb must have been a famous oil-wrestler in his time.

On the first picture, greasing of the wrestler and the oil stored in a reed stem is seen. After that, the wrestling starts. The last picture down shows the unchanged three step triumph of oiled wrestling. From this period we can trace the basic rules.

Centuries later, the Persians conquest Egypt and Persian shah
Shah
Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...

-kings occupied the throne of the Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...

's.

Oil-wrestling in Iran

The history of the oil-wrestling tournaments as we know today links back to the Persian Mythical Era, which, according to Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...

's Shahnameh, started 1065 BC. The legendary pehlivan of this era is called Rostam
Rostam
Rostam is the national hero of Greater Iran from Zabulistan in Persian mythology and son of Zal and Rudaba. In some ways, the position of Rostam in the historical tradition is parallel to that of Surena, the hero of the Carrhae. His figure was endowed with many features of the historical...

, a hero constantly saving his country from the evil forces.

The ceremonial start of oil-wrestling, called by its Persian name "Peshrev" has clear links with old Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian institutes as the zurkhane, literally "house of strength". The building consists of a court, around which the men, who will perform, arrange themselves, and a gallery for the ostad ("master") or morshed (spiritual leader) and the musicians. Nowadays, the musical accompaniment consists of a drum and recitation of portions of Ferdowsi's Shahname. There are various rhythms employed, and a variety of movements associated with them, including displays of strength in manipulating heavy objects (such as weights and chains) and acrobatics.

Here the origin of the peshrev has to be found, by some considered to be a warming up and greet-the-audience ceremony, to others a participatory form of dance. Certain different from the usual step-right, step-left, step-right, kick-left, step-left, kick-right dance found all over the area.

Greco-Roman Oil-wrestling

The word "Pehlivan" for a wrestler was first used in the period, when the Parthian (238 BC - 224 AD) expelled the Greeks
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 from Iran.

Huns defeat Romans near Edirne

The Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...

 arriving on the fringes of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 in the late 4th century, riding their horses out of the great steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...

s of Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

 into Germany and France. As they approached the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

 and conquered the Ostrogoths, they also drove the Visigoths across the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

 into the Roman Empire and caused the crisis that led to the astounding defeat of the Roman army under the Emperor Valens
Valens
Valens was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 364 to 378. He was given the eastern half of the empire by his brother Valentinian I after the latter's accession to the throne...

 near Adrianople (Edirne) in 378 AD.

The Huns were fanatic wrestlers as well as horsemen. After securing a strong position on the Roman side of the Danube, the Huns were checked by the Roman army of general Aspar
Aspar
Flavius Ardabur Aspar was an Alan patrician and magister militum of the Eastern Roman Empire. Aspar's family exerted a great influence on the Eastern Roman Emperors for half a century, from the 420s to his death in 471, over Theodosius II, Marcian and Leo I, who, in the end, had him killed.Alans...

 in Thrace (442).

In 447, Pehlivan Attila came again into Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...

 and stopped only when Emperor Thodosius II, begged for terms. During the negotiations, a Roman-Hun wrestling competition was held in Thermopylae
Thermopylae
Thermopylae is a location in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur springs. "Hot gates" is also "the place of hot springs and cavernous entrances to Hades"....

. The dispute was actually settled by a wrestling match and winner Attila accepted payment of all tribute in arrears and a new annual tribute of 2,100 pounds of gold and territory south of the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

.

Three years later Emperor Theodosius fell from his horse and died. His successor, Marcian
Marcian
Marcian was Byzantine Emperor from 450 to 457. Marcian's rule marked a recovery of the Eastern Empire, which the Emperor protected from external menaces and reformed economically and financially...

 (450-457), refused to pay Attila. The Hun decided to leave it, because the sister of the Roman Emperor Valentinian III
Valentinian III
-Family:Valentinian was born in the western capital of Ravenna, the only son of Galla Placidia and Flavius Constantius. The former was the younger half-sister of the western emperor Honorius, and the latter was at the time Patrician and the power behind the throne....

, the lovely Honoria, sent to him her ring and a message to the King of the Huns and asked Attila to become her champion. Atilla agreed to this marriage proposal. When the sister of the Roman Emperor was put in prison, Atilla decided to take care of her dowry. So he crossed the Rhine, took Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...

, sacked Rheims, Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...

, Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

, Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...

, Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....

 and put Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...

 under siege. When Attila invaded Italy, Pope Leo I
Pope Leo I
Pope Leo I was pope from September 29, 440 to his death.He was an Italian aristocrat, and is the first pope of the Catholic Church to have been called "the Great". He is perhaps best known for having met Attila the Hun in 452, persuading him to turn back from his invasion of Italy...

 went to Northern Italy to meet the Great Pehlivan and pay him off to spare Rome and abandon Papal Soil.

As Honoria was not available, next year Attila took a new, young, beautiful bride named Ildico. The wedding day was spent with one of the greatest wrestling match of this time. The party went on when the King of the Huns took his new bride to bed that night. That night he died - drowned in his own nosebleed. The empire of the Huns dissipated nearly as quickly as its most famous leader. In 454, the Ostrogoths and other Germanic tribes revolted and the sons of Attila, who had quarreled among themselves, could not deal with the crisis. In the words of Bury, the Huns were "scattered to the winds".

Oil-wrestling for Sultan and Shah

During the period Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 was brought into Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...

, spirituality and philosophy became part of the physical garment of the pehlivan. Oil-wrestling was established as a sport on its own. In Iran and the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 alike wrestling became the national sport. In Iran, wrestling grew to the customary institution of the zurkhane strong house, where people go to socialise and engage in athletic exercise. The wrestler is the strong-man in popular culture (in Persian the term is "big neck"), but he is also the pahlavan, the knightly hero, who is a free-living spirit and is generous and loyal.

The year 1360 is adapted by the organizers of the Edirne Kırkpınar as date Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 soldiers started to organize annual oil-wrestling tournaments in Kırkpınar, a wrestling field "within Samona village". According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this legend made the Kırkpınar world's oldest continuously sanctioned sporting competition.

The last bout between the two finalists lasted all night as neither was able to defeat the other. They were found dead the next morning, their bodies still intertwined. They were buried underneath a nearby fig tree, whereupon their comrades headed to conquer Edirne.

After the conquest, the soldiers came upon another fig tree, surrounded by a crystal-clear spring, so they renamed the surrounding meadow (which until then had been known as Ahirköy) Kırkpınar, which translates from Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

 as "forty springs" or "forty sources".

To commemorate the heroism of the conquering warriors, a wrestling tournament was re-enacted annually at this site, and the oldest still-contested sanctioned sporting competition in the world began.

Whatever tales, myths and stories. There has always been a common respect for the oil-wrestlers. The pehlivan is being stronger than anybody, having a well built body, clothed in heavy leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

 pants. Up till today, the wrestlers pour olive oil onto their bodies. And still you see a younger wrestler defeating an older wrestler kiss the older wrestler's hand.

According to historian Burhan Katia, the word pehlivan was also used for an officer, governor or huge and honest person. From the 16th century on, the term was exclusively used in the Ottoman Empire for the wrestling sportsman.

It was the time of Süleyman I, known throughout the world as "The Magnificent", even among such big-name-players as Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

 (Holy Roman Emperor—ruling Spain, Germany and parts of Italy), Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

 (the Tudor king of England), and Francis I
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...

 (Valois King of France).

Süleyman, in his own land known as "kanuni", the Legislator, reigned between 1520 and 1566, and was succeeded by his son Selim II
Selim II
Selim II Sarkhosh Hashoink , also known as "Selim the Sot " or "Selim the Drunkard"; and as "Sarı Selim" or "Selim the Blond", was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death in 1574.-Early years:He was born in Constantinople a son of Suleiman the...

, for whom Mimar Sinan build the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, considered to be Turkey's most beautiful mosque.

But above all, it was the era of Murat III (1546–1595). Under him the Ottoman Empire reached its largest geographical area in history.

In 1590, a peace agreement was reached between Murat III and the Persian Shah. The model of the wrestling pants go back to this period. The model is still same for the Iranian "pahlivan" and the Turkish "pehlivan", except that the Turkish wrestling pants are made of leather and are called "kispet", while the Iranian pahlivan wears a "pirpet", made of silk.

Famous wrestlers from Iran came to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

 to compete with the Ottoman champions, and the Turkish champs were invited to Persia to show their strength.

Collecting strong men

Before 1582, all recruits came from prisoners of war, the devsirme, or other slave sources. With that devsirme, the very best and strongest guys were recruited from all the provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Only the strongest and most healtiest boys had a chance to become a pehlivan. Always known to be free enough to be honest and through history trusted for his words and behaviours.

Everywhere in the Ottoman Empire were wrestling championships held. Every city and village had its annual wrestling, like nowadays. Wrestling occurred in a variety of contexts, including social and ceremonial events. There was wrestling on religious festival days, during special evenings of the Muslim fasting-month of Ramadan
Ramadan
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and...

, on agricultural events, circumcisions and weddings. On special occasions, charity wrestling competitions were organized outside the palaces. Only the best wrestlers were accepted in training to become members of the elite Janissary
Janissary
The Janissaries were infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops and bodyguards...

 Corps.

Oil-wrestling for French Impératrice Eugenie

When the Ottoman sultan visited France in 1867, oil-wrestlers were part of his entourage and Impératrice Eugenie
Eugénie de Montijo
Doña María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox-Portocarrero de Guzmán y Kirkpatrick, 16th Countess of Teba and 15th Marquise of Ardales; 5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo , was the last Empress consort of the French from 1853 to 1871 as the wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of...

 visited the wrestling-tournament. Wrestling was tough, but oil-wrestling was even harder. It was considered the most difficult sport in the world. In these days, the expression "Fort comme une Turc" (strong as a Turk) revived from the crusade-days.

Virantekke

After the Balkan War of 1912, the place of the original Kırkpınar of oil-wrestling was left. The annual match had to be relocated from Kırkpınar (near Samona) to Virantekke, now the Kapitan Andreevo
Kapitan Andreevo
Kapitan Andreevo is a village in Svilengrad municipality, Haskovo Province, southern Bulgaria. As of 2005 it has 948 inhabitants and the mayor is Dimitar Shiderov. Due to the proximity with Turkey, there is a major border checkpoint built there, with the Turkish side of the checkpoint being called...

 checkpoint on the Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

n border.

Edirne

After 12 years, the annual oil-wrestling competition of the Kırkpınar moved again to another place. Since 1924, bouts are held on the Sarayiçi island near Edirne.

The last Ottoman sultan was exiled to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

. In what was left over of that great empire almost everything traditional had to be replaced or westernized. The language was "purified" by replacing words of Persian or Arabic origin for words derived from Turkic roots. Even a sport prevailing any western sport was at stake. Atatürk thought to put the wrestling organizations directly under his own sponsorship. He ordered Selim Sırrı Tarcan (1874–1956) to restyle oil-wrestling according to his guidelines for sport in the new Turkish Republic.

So the winner of the Edirne was no longer "Başpehlivan of the Kırkpınar" but "Champion of Turkey". And instead of all those traditional prizes as that "Altin Kemer" (Golden Belt) and all those horses, donkeys and camels, the winners should have a nice, modern medal, just as they do in the rest of the modern world.

It was rumored, no pehlivan would show up, when instead of gold and live-stock only a title and medal would be given "because they do so in Europe". The former officer responsible for sport in the new Republic had to back down and allowed the winning wrestler in the highest category also a "Başpehlivan of the Year" award, to be a horse, camel, sheep, duck, whatever the organizers could obtain. Selim Sırrı Tarcan also put restraint on the Golden Belt: Only for the Edirne Kırkpınar and solely if a "Turkish Champion" was winner for three consecutive years, he should become the owner of such a valuable object. The weight of the "Altin Kemer" was limited to a topmost of 1.450 gram 14 carat gold.

The Kırkpınar wrestling competitions of Edirne were still held under the protectorate of the "Agha". The agha welcomes his guests and puts them up at the hotel, has dinners, and organizes festivities. Also, he hands out the prizes to the winners in their categories. Just before the final of the Kırkpınar, the organizing agha holds an auction. The bids are placed on a ram or sheep. The highest bidder becomes the "agha" of the next year's Kırkpınar and is the number one sponsor.

When in 1928 an economical depression hit Turkey and no agha could be found, Selim Sırrı Tarcan made the Turkish Red Cross (Kızılay) and the Institute of Child Care (Çocuk Esirgeme Kurumu) responsible for the organization and hosting of the guests.

In the old days an agha was able to stop a match, disqualify wrestlers if necessary, and even to cancel the wrestling events all together. Nowadays, it is the organizing committee, who make such decisions. Red Cross and Child Care would organize the Edirne Kırkpınar for 36 years. Then the organization was made a municipality services.

Edirne Kırkpınar municipality service

In 1964, the mayor of Edirne, Tahsin Sipka, signed an act that the Edirne Municipality was responsible for the organization of the Edirne Kırkpınar. That same year, mayor Sipka made the Edirne Kırkpınar a municipality service.

During a year, about 300 different oil-wrestling games are held in Turkey. They host 10 million spectators on average.

Introduction of time

Until 1975, there was no time limit to wrestling in Kırkpınar. The pehlivans would wrestle sometimes one, sometimes two days, until they could establish superiority to one another. Wrestling games would go on from 9am until dusk and the ones that could not beat each other would go on the next day. After 1975, wrestling was limited to 40 minutes in başpehlivan category. If there is no winner within these limits, the pehlivans wrestle for 15 minutes with scored recorded. The ones that can score points in this last period are accepted as the winners. In other categories, the wrestling time is limited to 30 minutes. If there is no winner, 10 minutes of score wrestling follows.

Federation

On 20 June 1996, the Turkish Federation of Traditional Sport Branches (Geleneksel Spor Dallari Federasyonu) was accepted by the Turkish Ministry. Riding, oil-wrestling, aba-wrestling and other traditional sports were assembled in the same federation under Alper Yazoglu.

Oil-wrestling hits Europe in Amsterdam

During the 636th annual Kırkpınar of Edirne, Agha (mc) Hüseyin Sahin agreed with Veyis Güngör, the chairman of Türkevi Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, and Mohamed el-Fers
Mohamed El-Fers
Mohamed el-Fers is a Dutch writer, musician and filmmaker.-Life:El-Fers was musician in Los Compañeros , Nass el-Ghorba , Tiq Maya , Medina and Atlal...

 (MokumTV Amsterdam) that they would unite their forces to promote traditional oil-wrestling in Europe and the world. For three days El-Fers filmed almost every match.

On September 4, 1996, MokumTV started a weekly program on the A1 Amsterdam channel. It proved to be the start of fast growing respect in Europe for this unique and highly esthetic "mother of all sports".

The late Hüseyin Sahin said during his speech, attended by Turkish president Süleyman Demirel
Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel, better known as Süleyman Demirel , is a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister seven times and was the ninth President of Turkey.-Life:Demirel was born in İslamköy, a town in Isparta Province...

, Edirne-mayor Hamdi Sedefçi, Veyis Güngör and Mohamed el-Fers that the Kırkpınar will exceed the borders of Turkey and unite the world.

The champion wrestlers, who attended that 636th Edirne Kırkpınar applauded the news of an Amsterdam Kırkpınar. In his speech at the award ceremony, President Süleyman Demirel said that Turkey would continue to raise world-famous wrestlers. Veyis Güngör told the press that the enthusiast reactions in Europe proved that this traditional Turkish sport is not only everlasting, but thanks to television and video, is gaining popularity under non-Turkish people as well. The organizers of the coming Amsterdam Kırkpınar received the days after the news was released about 950 letters of oil-wrestlers throughout Turkey, who would enter competition for the title of Euro-champion of the Amsterdam Kırkpınar.

The "Mother of All Sports" came in 1997 for the first ever to Western Europe, when the European Champions League were held in Amsterdam. No less than 22 television teams covered the event, and scenes from the Amsterdam Kırkpınar were shown at CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

 and the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 alike.

The 2nd European Oil-Wrestling Championship held in Amsterdam had already a final with 42 wrestlers from Turkey, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and other European countries. Winner was Cengiz Elbeye, Edirne Kırkpınar oil-wrestling champion. Addressing the ceremony held upon the start of the matches, Erkut Onart, the Turkish Consul General in the Netherlands, said that he believed the friendship between the Turkish society and the European countries is intensified when these kinds of cultural values are brought to Europe.

In the world of oil-wrestling, Amsterdam became the most important annual after Edirne.

Special branch

Oil-wrestling was accepted as special branch by the Turkish Olympic Wrestling Federation. Sport and politics, as in 1996 the Turkish Federation of Traditional Sport Branches (Geleneksel Spor Dallari Federasyonu) was official accepted as federation representing oil-wrestling and other traditional Turkish sports.

Anti-doping control

In 1999, anti-doping control was introduced for the first time by the Turkish Olympic Wrestling Federation during the Edirne Kırkpınar.

Foreign oil-wrestler rejected in Edirne

Oil-wrestling is a growing sport, not limited to Turkey only. However, it is difficult for foreign wrestlers to enter this National Turkish Championship. In 2000, Dutch oil-wrestler Melvin Witteveen's entry in Edirne was rejected, while Kadir Yilmaz, beaten by Witteveen some weeks earlier at the Amsterdam Kırkpınar, was allowed to participate due to his double Turko-Dutch nationalities.

As the winners of the categories of the Amsterdam Kırkpınar in Holland are considered to be European Champions, this creates the strange fact that according international standards the Amsterdam Kırkpınar tops Edirne, as latter being the National championship of Turkey only, repudiating non-Turkish entries.

The event attracted little attention outside of Turkey until the 1990s, when the style of wrestling began to spread to Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

. It has become particularly popular in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, which now hosts its own annual version of the tournament, attracting participants from throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. Yağlı güreş
Yagli güres
Oil wrestling , also called grease wrestling, is the Turkish national sport. It is so called because the wrestlers douse themselves with olive oil. It is related to the Uzbeki kurash, Tuvan khuresh and Tatar köräş...

 wrestling matches are also held in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

External links

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