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THE INITIATORS OF OIL OVER EUROPE

In Holland (the Netherlands) the traditional Turkish sport of oiled wrestling (yagli güres) is represented by the Türkevi foundation in Amsterdam. Chairman is Drs. Veyis Güngör and together with Mohamed el-Fers (MokumTV) took the initiative to held the Amsterdam Kirkpinar.

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		´Turkey´s oil wrestlers do not want gays watching´ said Mr. Alper Yazoglu.

Türkçe | Deutsch

Press-agency Reuters published on April 7 2000 this reaction of the Chairman of the Turkish Traditional Sports Federation Alper Yazoglu on the advertisement of a gaygroup called Bears of Turkey on Internet for a trip to watch the 639th Edirne Kirkpinar oil wrestling championships.

Oilwrestling is the national sport of Turkey. The president comes to watch the finals. Oil wrestlers are for centuries hailed as the strongest men around. Even in the former Ottoman Empire they were never associated with the gay-scenes, although it is known that some of the sultans had homosexual affairs and famous poets and musicians who were known to be homosexual. There is a general acceptance towards effeminate male entertainers. For example the most famous Turkish classical singer the late Zeki Muren or the transsexual Bülent Ersoy.

Homosexuality is not banned in Turkey. The age of consent in Turkey is 18. There are no articles on homosexuality in the law. Big cities have thriving gay scenes. Some of Turkish most famous artist are public-known gay. But, like in most countries, the issue is generally considered taboo. Except for sensation-seeking journalists. Turkey has a macho culture, and the ´most macho men´ wrestled for centuries with heir muscles rippling in olive oil, try to pin each other to the ground. Pictures of the burly men who cover themselves in olive oil and grapple with each other wearing leather trousers are for certain spectacular. Oilwrestlers not only appeared in sportpapers but also in gay-magazines all over the world. Not all the athletes were amused when the ´Turkish Bears´of the gay-organization VUF announced a gaytrip to Edirne.

The Turkish Bear
The gaygroup ´Turkish Bears´ advertise themselves as ´Wuf´ On their website: "We're NOT a real club, NOT an organization, exactly NOT a terrorist group. We're just a group of guys who try to do something. We DON'T have a place for our own, DON'T have a certain place to meet.
VUF is an email address at Yahoo and web site space at Geocities with an IRC channel and mailing list. On their website they cry ´not to be wanted during the Kirkpinar of Edirne. What triggers the whole issue is an advertisement for a 4 Nights, 5 Days program around the National Turkish Championship, including “wine and cheese´ and ´hamam party´ before getting off at the Kirkpinar to see well build real men wrestling in worlds most macho sport.

"It's immoral," quoted Anatolian news agency Chairman Alper Yazoglu. "We are trying every way to have this stopped...We shall pass this matter on to the interior, foreign and other ministries to ask for this disgusting business to be stopped."

Amsterdam KIRKPINAR
´Did he really said that he works together with all those ministries to stop gay visitors coming to Edirne? How Mr. Alper thinks to check out gay-visitors?´ is the reaction of Murat Kirbacoglu of the Amsterdam Kirkpinar, the European Championship held on Sunday, June the 4th. ´Such a statement must have been provoked by a sensation-seeking journalist.´

Veyis Güngör, Chairman of Türkevi, organizer of the Amsterdam Kirkpinar: ´What a baloney. Anyway, let it be clear that everybody is welcome during the Amsterdam Kirkpinar. It is a public event. Open to all people to participate or to watch.´
Also the Dutch law forbids to reject anybody for racial, religious or sexual reason.
Güngör: ´It is a fact that the sport shows a great part of the human body. ´But this is in accordance of the Muslim rules. If gay people are just coming to see halfnaked men, the better move to a swimming-contest.´
Murat Kirbacoglu: ´During the match sometimes the wrestler put a hand in the opponent's trousers. Putting a hand down the opponent's trousers has nothing to do with sexuality but is a common tactic to get a better grip on the opponent. But here in Holland, when De Volkskrant writes about oiled wrestling, it is a picture in this position that appears over five columns. I think these people consider this grip obscene and indecent. When the western media publish a picture of oil wrestlers, 9 out of 10 that you see a hand in the leather trousers. In our sport this grip is an inactivity. It would be strange when during a footballmatch the photographs would concentrate on those players waiting a ball to come their way. In oilwrestling it is the favorite scene for gay photographers. But the ´most macho´ of all sport has nothing more to do with gayness as e.g. football, weightlifting or Olympic wrestling.
Veyis Güngör: ´Oil wrestling dates back to the middle ages and not every pehlivan (oiled wrestler) likes it to be idolized as male pin-ups for the gay´.

Oilwrestling ezboard forum

Türkçe

"Isteyen gay Kirkpinar'i izleyebilir"
Edirne Eski Belediye Baskani Hamdi Sedefçi radikal çikti. Escinsellerin internette açtiklari bir sayfada yagli güresçileri kullanmalarina karsi, degisik tepkiler art arda geliyor. Edirne Eski Belediye Baskani Hamdi Sedefçi, Kirkpinar'in kültürel ve turistik bir etkinlik oldugunu belirterek "Gay'ler de oturup her insan gibi güresleri izleyebilir" dedi. Kirkpinar Agasi Emin Dogansoy, escinsellerin Internetteki sayfalarinin "çok çirkin" oldugunu belirtti.

Edirne Eski Belediye Baskani Hamdi Sedefçi radikal çikti
Gay'lik onlarin sorunu
Escinsellerin Internette açtiklari bir sayfada yagli güresçileri kullanmalarina karsi, degisik tepkiler art arda geliyor. Edirne Eski Belediye Baskani Hamdi Sedefçi, Kirkpinar'in kültürel ve turistik bir etkinlik oldugunu belirterek "Gay'ler de oturup her insan gibi güresleri izleyebilir" dedi. Kirkpinar Agasi Emin Dogansoy, escinsellerin Internetteki sayfalarinin "çok çirkin" oldugunu belirtti.

Türk esçinsellerin tarihi Kirkpinar güresleri'ni izlemek üzere bu yil Edirne'ye tur düzenlediklerini Internet'te hazirladiklari bir sayfayla duyurmalari, kentte degisik tepkilere neden oldu.

BIZ HOSGÖRÜLÜYÜZ

Edirne eski Belediye Baskani Hamdi Sedefçi, insanlara cinsiyet, din ve irk ayriminin yapilamacagina dikkat çekti. Sedefçi, "Biz Türk insani misafirperveriz. Misafire karsi her zaman hosgörülü davranmak zorundayiz. Biz onlara dostluk elimizi uzatiriz. Gay'lik onlarin sorunu, bizi ilgilendirmez. Oturup her insan gibi güresleri izleyebilirler" dedi.

HUKUKÇU GÖRÜSÜ

Edirne Barosu Baskani Naim Bildik, isteyen herkesin güresleri izleyebilecegini, "Izleyemezsiniz" demenin hukuga uygun olmadigini söyledi.

TURIZMCININ GÖRÜSÜ

Edirneli Turizmci Aydin Ertugrul ise, Kirkpinar'a gelecek insanlarin cinsel tercihlerinin hiç kimseyi ilgilendirmeyecegini belirtti ve "Kirkpinar güreslerini escinseller, izleyemez diye bir ayrim yapilamaz. Kadin, erkek, çoluk çocuk, her insan gibi insanca oturup güresler izlenir" dedi.

ÇOK PARA HARCARLAR

Edirne Çevre Gönüllüleri Dernegi Baskani Nezih Atsiz ise, gay'lerin çok para harcayan insanlar olduguna dikkat çekerek, "Edirne turizmine ve ekonomisine katki saglarlar. Bir kisi, 13 kisilik reklam yapar. Burada insanca eglenme ortamini bulurlarsa Avrupa'daki barbar Türk imajinin ortadan kalkmasina büyük katki saglarlar" diye konustu.

Kirkpinar Agasi Dogansoy
Kendilerine baska eglence arasinlar

Kirkpinar Agasi Emin Dogansoy, escinsellerin bu yil 639'ncusu yapilacak tarihi Kirkpinar Yagli Güresleri'ni izlemek üzere Edirne'ye tur düzenlemesine sert tepki gösterdi. Dogansoy, Geleneksel Spor Dallari Federasyonu Baskani Alper Yazoglu'nun görüslerine katildigini ifade etti. Kirkpinar Agasi Dogansoy, "Onlar da insan. Insanliklarina saygi duyarim, bir sey diyemem; ama Kirkpinar'i provoke etmesinler. Gay'ler kendilerine baska yerlerde eglence arasinlar. Bizim Kirkpinar'imiza ve tarihe leke sürmesinler’ diye konustu.

Baspehlivan Ahmet Tasçi
Internetteki karikatür insanligin bir ayibi

Iki kez altin kemer sahibi olan baspehlivan Ahmet Tasçi, escinsellerin güresleri izlemelerine karisamayacaklarini belirterek, "Gelene gelme diyemeyiz. Kimsenin hangi amaçla geldiklerini bilemiyiz. Benim tepkim, sadece Internetteki karikatüredir. Bu karikatür, insanlik ayibi. Bu karikatürü çizeni insanligin önünde ayipliyorum" dedi. Baspehlivan Ahmet Tasçi, Internetteki sayfada güresçilerin biyiklarini kestiklerinin belirtilmesine ise, "Öyle bir sey yok, sadece yeni kusak güresçiler biyik sevmiyor" dedi. Ahmet Tasçi, güresleri izlemek için tur düzenlenmesini ise "Onlar da insan. Tur düzenlemisler geliyorlar. Gelen izleyicinin Gay olup olmamasi beni ilgilendirmiyor. Ancak Kirkpinar'i izlemek için dünyanin her yerinden izleyici geliyor. Kirkpinar onlarin da ilgisini çekmis, ilginç gelmis olabilir" yorumunu yapti.

9 nisan 2000 Hürriyet

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