GALATA ANATOLIAN RELIGIOUS HIGH SCHOOL ISTANBUL/TURKEY
Archery by Menar Sadıkoğlu
Archery is one of the national sports in Turkey. It is my also my favorite sport as you can see from the picture below. I take part in several archery competitions in Turkey and I represent my school.
The archery first started for hunting. Then it became a sport in most countries. Although it is a difficult sport, it is enjoyable and full of excitement. It requires hand and eye coordination as well as concentration.
Turkey’s well-known national archers are Mervenur Yılmaz, Mete Gazoz and Demir Elmaağaçlı.
BURDUR HIGH SCHOOL, TURKEY BURDUR
TURKEY'S TRADITIONAL SPORTS
Turkey has lots of unique traditional sports to have a good time, a few of traditional Turkish sports are mentioned below. For instance traditional camel wrestling, historical Kirkpinar oil wrestling and the game of jereed.
TRADITIONAL OIL WRESTLING
Oil wrestling is one of the most popular sports in Turkey. This is the Turkish national sport, a competitive wrestling tournament, made more difficult by the fact that the combatants are smothered in oil. The competitors wear traditional black costumes and the event is held every year.
TURKISH NATIONAL SPORT
The wrestlers wear tight short leather trousers called as Kispet in Turkish, made of water buffalo leather weighing approximately 13 kg, and they cover themselves with olive oil.
There is only one wrestling tournament in the world where contestants slather themselves with olive oil before entering the grassy ring.
Wrestlers fight for the Kirkpinar Golden Belt and the title of Chief Pehlivan. Called the Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling tournament, the ancient grappling fest took place on June 27 outside of the northwestern Turkish city of Edirne.
KIRKPINAR OIL WRESTLING
Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling is recognised as part of the of UNESCO Cultural Heritage and is one of the oldest sport manifestations in the world which has been continuing since 1357 in Rumelia.
Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling, which has been bounded with a tradition of almost 650 years, hosts contests for a week with the active participation of the media, artists and personalities from Turkey and from all over the world, milions of spectators and with a varying array of activities every year.
Head wrestling and other forms of wrestling contests generate great enthusiasm.
CAMEL WRESTLING SPORT
Camel wrestling is one of the very popular traditional sports in Turkey. It is most common in the Aegean Region of Turkey, but is also been practiced in other parts of Turkey.
Camel Wrestling is thought that this sport has its origins in the nomadic tribes who depended on camels for their livelihood. It is mostly popular in the Aegean Region, where contests are held in the winter months from December to March.
WRESTLING CATEGORIES
Male camels are bred and trained specifically for wrestling and must be of a certain type, known as Tulu Camels. Camel wrestling is held in four categories, namely Foot, Middle, Under the Head, Head. A camel can win in any of three ways; by making the other camel retreat, by making the other camel scream, or by making the other camel fall.
CAMEL WRESTLING LEAGUE
Today, camel wrestling is also seen in the cities of Aydin, Izmir, Mugla, Denizli and Manisa in the Aegean Region, Balikesir and Canakkale in the Marmara Region, Antalya, Burdur and Isparta in the Mediterranean Region of Turkey.
Also, there is a camel wrestling league organized every year in the Aegean Region and Mediterranean Region in Anatolia.
Contests are held under strict regulation to protect the welfare of the animals who may only wrestle once per day in a match which lasts for only 10 or 15 minutes.
TURKISH EQUESTRIAN SPORT
Jereed is a sport part of the long tradition of holding horses in high esteem in Turkey. A jereed, similar to a javelin is thrown by opponents on horseback to score points against one another.
Jereed game was very popular all over Anatolia 50-60 years ago. The great interest felt by Turkish people in horse rising, and their considerable success at it, turned first into an entertainment and later into a sport.
This traditional sport is a team event, involving two teams of horsemen, who throw wooden javelins at each other to score points.
The game of Turkish jereed is commonly played by men, and generally performed at weddings, on special days or at fairs.
HISTORY OF JEREED
During the Ottoman period it became a popular war game demonstrating the bravery of its participants, with competitions held in the Hippodrome in Istanbul.
Despite its popularity, it was banned in 1826 by Sultan Mahmut II, who considered it to be too dangerous.
Although it was still played regularly until about 50 years ago, now it is only played in a few regions to mark ceremonial occasions, mostly those around Erzurum and Kars in the east of Turkey, although it can also still be seen in Konya, in central Anatolia, and in Balikesir on the Aegean.