Turkey to host festival of ancient wrestling tradition

By Omer Hakan Kibar

ANKARA

Turkey's southeastern Gaziantep province is set to host a festival of a 4,000-year-old Turkish wrestling tradition on Sunday.

The Festival of Asirtmali Aba Wrestling will host 300 athletes from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Romania, Mongolia and the Russian republics of Dagestan, and Chechnya, besides Turkey, the Traditional Sports Branches Federation of Turkey (GSDF) said in a statement on Wednesday.

The traditional wrestling is still popular in Turkic republics, many other Caucasian states, and Russian republics.

Although Asirtmali Aba Wrestling was initially practiced for military purposes, today it has turned into a sports activity.