The fourth edition of the World Nomad Games started with a colorful opening ceremony attended by the 3,000 athletes from more than 100 countries competing in 13 different sports branches.
The lakeside town of Iznik in the northwestern province of Bursa is hosting the four-day competition through Sunday after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hailing the games as an opportunity for the youth to experience traditional sports, arts and gastronomy, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the event is an important cooperation platform for the Turkic world.
"I believe that the games, which are based on peace, solidarity and helping each other, are a unique platform of cooperation at a time when our region is swept by religious and ethnic conflicts, tensions and crises," the president said.
Erdoğan continued by saying that the games are a platform to embrace disappearing cultures and revive them.
The World Nomad Games began in Kyrgyzstan, a project initiated by the government in 2012 to revive and preserve the culture of nomadic civilizations.
Kyrgyzstan hosted the first, second and third editions of the games in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
Under the leadership of the World Ethnosport Confederation, the four-day event will feature equestrian competitions, wrestling and archery.
"The mission of the World Nomad Games covers the revival, development, and preservation of the ethnoculture, diversity, and originality of the people of the world in order to foster a more tolerant and open relationship between people," the World Nomad Games said on their official website.
