Sponsor's Message

1999 Kirkpinar Traditional Turkish Oil Wrestling Championship Sponsor Ayhan Sezer

He was Born on November 10th, 1960 in Babaeski,'s province "Buyuk Mandira." A descendant of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz and unforgettible Kirkpinar Champion (Baspehlivan) "Kavasoglu Ibrahim the Great," Mr Sezer is a businessman who deals with vegetable oil production.

Dear Fans,

This sports championship is held yearly on the second week of July in the city of Edirne, Turkey. The wrestlers wear their traditional outfits, "kispet," made of made of water buffalo leather and which contains 58 meters of hand stitching. This outfit covers the lower part of the werstler's bodies below the belt area to the knees. Warm-up movements called "Peshrev," resembles the attack of an eagle on its prey. Then the wrestlers pat each other in the back and wish success to one-another. After all these activities, the wrestlers pour olive oil onto their bodies. A younger wrestler defeating an older wrestler would kiss the older wrestler's hand. The furthest achievement in wrestling is oil wrestling. None of the world, or olympic champions were able to win in Kirkpinar. Many wrestlers who have started in oil wrestling have gone on to achieve world and olympic success. As the athletes compete in the "arena of the brave, " Turkish traditional musical instruments (davul:drums, zurna:a type of flute) play the melodies of war. "Cazgir" is a poet-like character who introduces the wrestlers to the crowd with his limericks (mani) and witty humor.

Why Do They Apply the Oil?

For many years the practitioners of the sport of wrestling have prepared in religious settlements. The first wrestling sketches were found in Egypt in Beni Hasan temple which was built five thousand years ago. In Central Asia, religious men called "shamans," and "dai" have been involved with wrestling. In the Ottoman Empire wrestlers were brough up in religious environments called "tekke" for seven hundred years. Just like five thousand years ago, Japanese Sumo Wrestling and Turkish Kirkpinar carries over the religious motifs of the past. Man is not simply made of matter, the other half of the human equation is our spirit and spiritual being. Wrestling without the spiritual relationship has been accepted to be harmful for the improvement of the human character. The wrestlers oiling of each-other is a signification of the importance of "balance" in such competitions. According to English thinker Bertrand Russel, the Roman Empire collapsed due to the infected mosquitoes that spread Malaria. In those times, living at sea level, to 400m above sea level was close to impossible. Even mosquito nets, burning animal feces, standing in smoke during sundown were not sufficient for complete protection from mosquitoes. The oil extracted from a vegetable particular to the Mediterranean region: "the olive," was used in cooking and for protection from mosquitoes. When humans learned to mix a specific ingredient "kafur" with olive oil for full protection from mosquitoes, the Roman Empire was long gone. The people of Anatolia who spent day by day applying olive oil on to their bodies, continued to wrestle with their bodies oiled, and a new style of wrestling surfaced from this condition: "oil wrestling."

A Part of Turkish Culture

The culture of a nation is its mirror. It is possible to get an impression about a nation by examining their culture. Before the times of television and radio, wrestling has been used as an image making event by the "pachas, beys and agas" -the powerful people of the time. No one can argue against the importance of image. Alexander the Great brought sculptors along when he headed to conquer Asia; he had handsome busts of himself put all around the countries he conquered. Napoleon benefited from painters. In the times of the Ottoman Empire large land owners supported wrestlers to maintain their image. At the wrestling events, the "cazgir" would announce in his rhyming, colorful language who the sponsors of the wrestlers are. Relatively, a winning wrestler would appease his sponsors. This was the easiest way of "image making" before the communication age. Also, wrestling was regarded as a military preperation for centuries. Plato, the student of Socrates recommends: "For the benefit of the nation, have your sons practice wrestling and gymnastics along with music." Kirkpinar contains music, gymnastics and wrestling.

The Role of the Sponsor

The "Aga" is the number one sponsor at Kirkpinar, the "Kabe" of wrestling. He is able to stop a match, disqualify wrestlers if necessary, and even to cancel the wrestling events all together. The "aga of all agas" in Turkish , means the president of the country. Presidents Ozal, and Demirel have been among the number one spectators of Kirkpinar. The Aga welcomes his guests in Edirne for 3 days. He puts them up at the hotel, has big dinners, and organizes festivities. Also, whe hands out the medals to the winners in their categories.

Great Wrestlers

My Ancestors "Kavasoglu Ibrahim the Great," "Samdancibasi Kara Ibo," and Alico were head wrestlers (baspehlivan) of the Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz. Alico established an unbreakable record of being "Baspehlivan" in Kirkpinar for 27 years. The Sultan, Abdulaziz took Kavasoglu and Samdancibasi on his trip to France and England. The love for Oil Wretling must have descended from these great ancestors of mine. I was not able to wrestle at Kirkpinar, but as the "aga" and sponsor I am trying to aid this ancient sport which we have inherited from our past. Yusuf the Great (Koca Yusuf), Kurtdereli, Adali, Kucuk Yusuf (Huseyin) and Dobrucali Yusuf Mahmut wretled in Europe and America, and were known around the world. Another wrestler, Kara Ahmet took the world champion title in 1899 in Paris.

Come to Kirkpinar

This year, the second week of July, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday a minimum of 1000 wrestlers will wrestle from 9:00 am to sundown in Edirne, Turkey. Come and enjoy an ancient and fascinating sport at its foundation, I recommend this very highly.

The Sponsor of the 1999 Kirkpinar Traditional Turkish Oil Wrestling Championship

Ayhan Sezer



P.S.: Technical information on Kirkpinar is taken from AIPS Wretling Committee member and journalist Ali Gumus.