To some the gay-issue about an organized gay-trip to the world championship in oiled wrestling is made up by the press - Here we try to inform you about what´s up in the media about oiled wrestling.

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.

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

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. Oilwreslers 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 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.

A Turkish Bear that barks?

These ´Turkish Bears´ of this gaygroup advertise themselves as ´Wuf´, translation of 'woof', the barking sound of a dog in Turkish. Normally the word should be written 'VUUF'.

Wat is the 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.

The Wuf is into rough sex between males. The personal adds on their website are about ´masters´ seeking ´slaves´, sexual sadism, masochism etc. On their website they cry ´not to be wanted during the Kirkpinar of Edirne. But no mote than that their version of ´the story´ is under construction´and will be here SOON´. 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 2000

´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. The law forbids to reject anybody for racial, religious or sexual reason.´ 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 gaypeople are just coming to see halfnaked men, the better move to a swimming-contest.´ What you think is the extra attraction for gays to this sport? 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 oilwrestlers, 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 serious sportsmen just don't like to be idolized as male pin-ups for the gay´.

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