Turkey's southeastern Gaziantep province is set to host a festival of a 4,000-year-old Turkish wrestling tradition on Sunday.
The Festival of Aşırtmalı Aba Wrestling will host 300 athletes from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Romania, Mongolia and the Russian republics of Dagestan, and Chechnya, besides Turkey, the Traditional Sports Branches Federation of Turkey (GSDF) said in a statement on Wednesday.
The traditional wrestling is still popular in Turkic republics, many other Caucasian states, and Russian republics.
Although Aşırtmalı Aba Wrestling was initially practiced for military purposes, today it has turned into a sports activity.
