Ethnosports Culture Festival to be held in Istanbul

By Hatice Senses Kurukiz

ISTANBUL (AA) - A festival spotlighting Turkic sports and cultures from legendary ages past will be held in Istanbul on May 9-13.

The third annual Ethnosports Culture Festival, sponsored by Anadolu Agency, aims to promote and revive sports and cultures unique to ancient Turkic life.

According to a statement by the World Ethnosports Federation, the event this year will meet its audience with more diverse, rich, and original content.

The federation’s President Bilal Erdogan said, “There is no superiority among cultures. Each one is valuable, deserves to be experienced and seen.”

“We think that this kind of work is important for all cultures to continue their own lives and not to disappear [...] in a world dominated by the western culture," Erdogan said.

“The festival includes fun and exciting competitions, events. More than 880 athletes will compete in 13 branches in the festival,” Erdogan added.

Erdogan said the event will also feature Qatari hawk hunting as well as Turkish falconry masters.

The events at the five-day festival to be set up on Yenikapi Square will include mounted archery, wrestling, horse riding, oil wrestling and other traditional Turkic and Central Asian sports.

A group of traditional Turkic tents will also be displayed during the festival.