Oil wrestling festival returns in north-west Turkey

Wrestlers, doused in olive oil, compete during the 660th instalment of the annual Historic Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling championship, in Edirne, north-western Turkey (Emrah Gurel/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 north-west of the country for a 600-year-old oil wrestling championship.

Last year’s contest was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but spectators headed in droves to Edirne province on the Greek border over the weekend to watch a sport that dates to the 14th century.