Turkey’s centuries-old oil wrestling festival draws crowds in Edirne

ANKARA: Turkey’s annual Kırkpınar oil wrestling festival is under way in the northwestern city of Edirne, where the centuries-old event continues to draw competitors and spectators for what is regarded as the country’s national sport.

Held in July, the contest sees men of different ages and body types coat themselves in olive oil before grappling in the mud under the summer sun. The festival, known in Turkish as yağlı güreş, has been staged in Edirne for more than six centuries at the Sarayiçi Er Meydani arena.

The event’s origins are tied to an Ottoman-era legend dating back to 1361, when Suleyman Pasha, son of the second Ottoman sultan Orhan I, is said to have marched through the Eastern Thracian province of Edirne with 40 soldiers. Two wrestlers continued competing for so long that both died from exhaustion, and the tradition later took root at the site.

The festival is older than the modern Olympic Games, which were revived in 1896. A local taxi driver, 59-year-old Yakup Kaya, described the weight of that history as he drove through Edirne’s old streets toward the wrestling grounds.

"People say it’s all tall tales about the history of this festival. But whether you believe it or not, it’s all true,"

The festival atmosphere begins even before the bouts start, with the smell of churned earth and olive oil filling the air as wrestlers prepare for a full day of competition. The gathering brings together men across generations in a display that remains one of Turkey’s best-known sporting traditions.