Germany hosts sports festival to boost ties with Turkey

By Mesut Zeyrek

COLOGNE, Germany (AA) - Germany will host a sports, cultural and arts festival starting on Friday to cement ties with Turkey.

According to the website of the European Sports and Culture Festival (ASKFEST), there will be a three-day festival in the northwestern German city of Hamm to strengthen cultural ties between Germany and Turkey.

This festival at Lippepark in Hamm will be jointly organized by the Turkish Youth and Sports Ministry, Culture and Tourism Ministry, Turkey's Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) and the Municipality of Hamm.

As part of the festival, there will be team and individual sports competitions, games for children and adults and cultural events.

The festival will be held under the theme "Do Sports Together! Have fun Together! Live Together!".

Competitions in football and basketball matches, athletics, bowling, cycling, skateboarding and table tennis will also be held.

In addition to these modern sports, competitions in Turkish traditional sports such as archery and oil wrestling will be organized.

The attendees can also taste Turkish and German cuisine and enjoy concerts.

Turkish and German celebrities, athletes and government officials such as Turkish Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoglu, Culture Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, YTB Chairman Abdullah Eren and Mayor of Hamm Thomas Hunsteger Petermann will attend the festival.

Anadolu Agency, national Turkish broadcaster TRT and Turkey's national flag carrier Turkish Airlines are among the contributors of the festival.

Hamm is located in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia state, which is densely populated by Turkish people.

The event, which will be free of charge for Turkish and German people, will end on June 30.