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OIL WRESTLING

The Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival is considered the oldest wrestling event in the world and is said to have started as a sport for Ottoman raiders during the mid-14^th century.

The style was then developed as a training method for the sultan’s elite Jannisary guards.

Now held annually in the Sarayici arena in Edirne, northwestern Turkey, the festival attracts thousands of wrestlers, known as pehlivan, and many more spectators.

( Photo Reuters/Murad Sezer,AFP/Mustafa Ozer )

LA ZZIDO