― 24 июля 2019 г.

4th Festival of Traditional Sports of the Turkic World in Bursa, Kocayayla

The 4th Festival of Traditional Sports of the Turkic World held in order to revive and preserve Turkic culture while transmitting common cultural values of the Turkic World to future generations and strangthening ties of brothehood among Turkic peoples  took place in an extremely  joyful atmosphere in Bursa between July  19th-21st, 2019.

The festival which featured colourful moments and lasted three days was hosted by the Metropolitan Municipality of Bursa and took place in Kocayayla in the district of Keles with the contribution of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Turkey, the Governorate of Bursa, TURKSOY, the Union of Municipalities of the Turkic World, the Turkish Federation of Traditional Sports, the Union  for the Promotion of Culture and Tourism of Bursa and the World Etnosports Confederation.

Within the framework of the festival which gathered many sportsmen from Turkey and abroad, traditional sports of the Turkic World performed included children's games, mangala, traditional archery, horse riding acrobacy, horse riding with javelin, horse riding with archery, wrestling on horse back, aba wrestling, lessons in horseriding, kökbörü, efe-zeibek, alpagut martial arts show. Besides, the festival also introduced  traditional silk weaving of carpets and textiles as well as representations of bridal ceremonies in mountainous regions to the audience.

Apart from artists and sportsmen coming from  Azerbaijan,  Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,  Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the festival also featured students from Eastern Turkistan, raising the number of participants in the event up to more than 1200 sportsmen who performed ancestral sports dating back to 5 thousand years.

Besides, the festival also introduced crafts, cuisine and garments of kindred Turkic peoples such as the Kazak, Kyrgyz, Uygur, Uzbek, Turkmen, Tatar and Nogai peoples. TURKSOY participated in the event with a photography exhibition introducing traditional sports of its 14 member states. Another side-event of the festival was the colourful concert of the Nazar Music Ensemble of Kazakhstan which left undelible traces in the memories of amateurs of art who came to attend the festival.

Thanks to the Festival of Traditional Sports of the Turkic World,  traditional sports of the Turkic World were introduced to visitors along with various cultural and artistic side-events held in Kocayayla. The festival which featured participants from  23 countries  has been yet another contribution to the strengthening of unity, friendship  and solidarity among Turkic peoples.