Turkish village children live winter dream

By Yunus Hocaoglu

ERZURUM, Turkey (AA) - Children from a village in northeastern Turkey lived their dream after they were taken to play curling at a professional rink.

The children from Yolboyu village in Kars province caught the attention of a large number of people after Anadolu Agency covered a story on them.

In the absence of any professional equipment, the children were playing the game with cleaning brushes and pieces of ice on a frozen lake.

First, they got a visit from the National Curling Team in Kars.

Next, Turkey’s Curling Federation head Kenan Sebin invited the children to Erzurum province where they played the game on a real ice rink with professional coaches and equipment.

"We could not be indifferent to these children," Sebin said.

"We went to the village to visit them and they welcomed us. We are happy because they are happy," he added.

Hasan Can Aybek, one of the children, said: "We were playing curling on Kars stream and now we play and learn here. We are excited and happy. Our dreams have come true."

Curling is a winter sport where players slide stones on ice on to a circular target.

*Writing by Burak Dag in Ankara