The second day of Turkey’s ancient Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling festival witnessed some fierce battles, between the country’s top oil wrestlers. At least 16 competitors won the preliminary games to qualify ...

EDIRNE, Turkey (Reuters) - Some 2,200 oil wrestlers began fighting bouts at a stadium in the northwestern Turkish city of Edirne on Friday, competing to win a golden belt in a contest dating back to ...

ISTANBUL (AP) — It took nearly an hour of grappling with his opponent under the blazing Turkish sun for Cengizhan Simsek to win the tournament and join a long list of previous victors. A very long ...

EDIRNE, Turkey -- After nearly an hour of grappling with his opponent under the blazing sun, Turkey's "Tireless Wrestler" was crowned the winner of the 663rd Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Championships.

As wrestlers battle for glory at the Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival in northwestern Turkey, passionate fans of all ages are seizing the opportunity to pay tribute to the sport’s legends. Wrestlers ...

EDIRNE, Turkey (AP) — On a grass field slick with olive oil and steeped in tradition, hundreds of boys as young as 11 joined the ranks of Turkey’s most time-honored sporting event: the annual ...

The Kirkpinar oil wrestling festival takes place in Edirne, Turkey. Thousands of people from different age groups, cultures and regions travel every year to see Pehlivan (wrestlers) fight for the ...

There are few ways to better know a destination than by witnessing its national sport. In Türkiye, this means watching kispet-clad, olive oil-soaked wrestlers (or Pehlivan) grapple for supremacy in a ...

EDIRNE, Turkey (AP) — After a year-long, pandemic-induced hiatus, the sounds of the zurna flute and beating drums again greeted thousands of Turkish wrestling fans who returned to the country’s ...

Oil wrestling or grease wrestling is believed to be started some 4,500 years ago in Thrace and the Balkans. The most famous oil wrestling tournament is held in Turkey. Named Kirkpinar, it has its root ...