1. Autumn Activities in Turkey…

2. Traditional Games Peculiar to Children:

3. Bezirgan Basi (Head of the Grasping Trader) This is played with at least 10 people. Two players are chosen, and these take the names “golden watch” and “golden bracelet.” These two stand face-to-face, hold and raise their hands. The others walk and pass under these two children’s hands saying: This is played with at least 10 people. Two players are chosen, and these take the names “golden watch” and “golden bracelet.” These two stand face-to-face, hold and raise their hands. The others walk and pass under these two children’s hands saying:

4. Open the door Head of the grasping trader What do you give As a deal? What do you give? The person behind me Let him be a souvenir Let him be a souvenir. Open the door Head of the grasping trader What do you give As a deal? What do you give? The person behind me Let him be a souvenir Let him be a souvenir.

5. When the last sentence is recited, one of the players is captured. The two doing the catching take him and ask whether he prefers the golden watch or the golden bracelet. Depending on his answer, the boy stands behind one or other of the two. The process continues until all the players have been caught. The two groups of children then hold each other tightly by the waist. They assume a position behind a line drawn between them and engage in a contest closely resembling a tug-of-war, each group trying to pull the other over the line. The group which is pulled over the line loses the game. The game continues until everyone has grown tired of it.

6. Leapfrog (Long Donkey)

7. This is played with at least four people. Two of the players are chosen to be ‘it.’ These turn to their backs to each other, put their hands on their knees, and face away from each other. Other players come and jump over the others in turns. Anyone who falls over while jumping becomes “it” himself. The other players keep on jumping while saying, “One is one, my two is two, my three is three, my four is four....” Comic actions may also be included. For example, the seventh player may say “My seven is seven, I am kicked” and other players kick the player bending over. The eighth player says, “My eight is hopscotch and stands on one foot. Other players after him have to stand on one foot after completing their jumps. The eighth player has the right to order other players after him to stand on one foot. As soon as the ninth player says, “My nine is nine,’ all the players have to freeze. The tenth players says, “My ten is the reaping hook, cannon of the conqueror” and starts to hit the “it.” The game continues with the choosing of a new “it.”

8. Games Peculiar to Adults

9. The game of Jereed

10. Jereed, or “çavgan,” is a traditional game which has been played by Turks for many centuries. Turks brought this horse-riding game with them in their journey from Central Asia to Anatolia. For Turks, the horse was both sacred and indispensable. All the days of their lives were spent in the company of horses. Koumiss (kimiz), which means horses’ milk, was their staple drink. For the Turks, jereed was both a great ceremony and a sports competition. Later, in the 16th century, it came to be considered a war game by the Ottoman Turks. In the 19th century, it became the largest sports show and game of the Ottoman state and its palaces. Mahmut II banned jereed in 1826 for its status as a dangerous game. But despite this, the game continued to spread to all the parts of the empire as an important Ottoman war game.

11. There are two teams in a jereed game. These two teams are placed in rows of 6, 8 or 12 players in a field as much as 70 or 120 meters in length. Jereed players, dressed in regional costumes, mount their horses. With their right hand they hold the first jereed – a long stick – they will throw while holding other jereeds in their left hand. One rider from each side rushes forth towards the opposite side until they are within 30-40 meters of the other side. Then one player shouts the name of a player from the other team, challenging him to enter the game. He then throws the jereed in his right hand to that player. Later he turns around and he spurs his horse towards his own row. The challenged player from the opposite team follows him and throws a jereed at the player who is running away. Another player from the first row comes out and meets the returning rider. The player from the second row starts riding quickly to his row and takes his former place. This time his rival chases him and throws a jereed at him. The game continues in this manner. Players who succeed in hitting a player from the opposite team with a jereed win a point, but they lose a point if the jereed hits the horse instead of the player.

12. The jereed players can make several different evasive maneuvers in order to avoid being hit by players from the other team. The rider leans towards either side of the horse, under the horse’s stomach or even its neck. Some players score points by hitting the other team’s player three or four times before that player manages to escape and take his place back in his row. Occasionally players are injured when they are hit on the head, eyes or ears. There are even some cases, albeit rare, where such injuries have resulted in death. A player who dies in the course of a game is considered to have perished in battle, so his surviving relatives don’t seek redress against the other player. Fathers even boast about their sons who lost their lives while taking part in the game. Initially, the jereeds were made out of date or oak trees. They measured 70-100 centimeters long and were 2-3 centimeters wide. Later, in order to minimize the risk of fatalities during play, wood from poplar trees came into favor in making jereeds. The two ends of the sticks were cut into a cylindrical shape and made round. The wood’s bark is also removed so as not to injure the person it hits. The game’s spectators yell and shout in order to encourage the players and their horses.

13. Kırkpınar Wrestling

14. The History of Kırkpınar Various stories are told to explain how Kırkpınar wrestling started some 641 years ago. The following tale is the one most widely told: In 1346, during military expeditions led by Orhan Gazi to conquer Rumelia (the part of the Ottoman Empire which lay in Europe), his brother Süleyman Paşa marched with 40 soldiers to Domuzhisar, which was then in the hands of the Byzantines. They raided and conquered the Domuzhisar, or Domuz Fortress. After also conquering other fortresses, the group of 40 soldiers who formed the advance guard returned, and they came to rest in Samona, which is today in Greece. There, these 40 soldiers began to wrestle. After hours of wrestling, two brothers named Ali and Selim both proved unable to defeat the other. On a Hidrellez day (a festival held on May 6 to celebrate the beginning of summer), these two brothers started wrestling again. The wrestling match lasted the entire day but still neither man could defeat his brother, so the contest continued throughout the night illuminated by candle and torch light. At the end, however, both of the brothers ran short of both breath and energy and so they died.

15. At the spot where the two men had perished, where there was a fig tree, their friends laid them to rest. Then many years later they came to visit the tree. At that very place where the two brothers were buried, they found a great river flowing. Following this, the people of the region start calling the area “Kırkpınar” (Forty Springs). This was at the green pastoral area of the Greek village of Samona. At the end of the Balkan wars and World War I, the Kırkpınar Wrestling Contest started to be held at the place called Virantekke, which is located between Edirne and Mustafapaşa. After the foundation of the Turkish Republic, since 1924 the contests have been held in Edirne’s Sarayiçi area. Until 1928, ağas (landlords) organized the Kırkpınar Wrestling Contest and they entertained the guests and gave awards to the winners. However, due to economic troubles in the country, people became reluctant to volunteer to become agas. So, starting in 1928, the Turkish Red Crescent (Kizilay) and the Child Protection Society (Çocuk Esirgeme Kurumu) took over the duties of putting together the wrestling contests. In 1946, the Edirne Municipality started organizing the Kırkpınar Wrestling Contest, and in this year also Edirne Mayor Tahsin Şipka added the contest’s organization to the municipality’s official duties.

16. Pehlivan “Pehlivan” is a Persian word normally meaning brave, but it also has a number of secondary meanings: officer, governor, a physically large man or a person who tells the truth. Throughout history the word has been used with a variety of meanings. The Seljuks used to employ the word to refer to heroic warriors, accomplished shooters and wrestlers. In the 16th century, it was used exclusively for athletes, and this practice continued to the end of the reign of Sultan Mahmut II. The entire Turkish nation, including women and children, loves wrestling, and they respect wrestlers for their roots in the culture of warriors and heroism. People love pehlivans because they are physically stronger than everyone else, as well as muscular, healthy-looking, and brave, and because they have strong characters and you can trust their word. In Ottoman times, wrestling contests were held as a part of festivals and weddings or as a way to raise funds for groups promoting social welfare.

17. Different types of group dances in different regions There are many different types of folk dances performed in various ways in Turkey, and these reflect the cultural structure of each region. The bar in Erzurum province, the halay in the East and Southeast, the hora in Thrace, the horon in the Black Sea and spoon dances in and around Konya are the best known examples of these. There are many different types of folk dances performed in various ways in Turkey, and these reflect the cultural structure of each region. The bar in Erzurum province, the halay in the East and Southeast, the hora in Thrace, the horon in the Black Sea and spoon dances in and around Konya are the best known examples of these.

18. Zeybek In this Aegean dance, colorfully dressed male dancers, called "Efe", symbolize courage and heroism. The Zeybek folk dance of Turkey differs in style depending upon the region. Zeybek In this Aegean dance, colorfully dressed male dancers, called "Efe", symbolize courage and heroism. The Zeybek folk dance of Turkey differs in style depending upon the region.

19. Zeybek

20. The Spoon Dance is performed from Konya to Silifke and consists of gaily dressed male and female dancers clicking out the dance rhythm with a pair of wooden spoons in each hand. The Spoon Dance is performed from Konya to Silifke and consists of gaily dressed male and female dancers clicking out the dance rhythm with a pair of wooden spoons in each hand.

21. Horon: Horon: This Black Sea dance is performed by men only, dressed in black with silver trimmings. The dancers link arms and quiver to the vibrations of the kemence, a primitive type of violin… This Black Sea dance is performed by men only, dressed in black with silver trimmings. The dancers link arms and quiver to the vibrations of the kemence, a primitive type of violin…

22. Horon

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