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There are roughly thirty annual festivals in Aegean Turkey each year from
November to March. Roughly one hundred fighting camels take part in these events, with each camel competing in approximately ten matches. Events always occur on Sundays in football stadiums and typically last ten minutes each.
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Due to the motivating factor of a nearby female camel, the events have historically been held during mating season. The camels fight by using their necks as leverage to force their opponent to fall down. A camel is declared the winner if his competitor falls to the ground or flees from the fight.
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Camel fighting originated among ancient Turkic tribes over 1000 years ago. Camels also wrestle in the wild, so the practice occurred before it was first organized by nomads. In the 1920s the
Turkish National Aviation league held Camel fights as fundraisers in order to purchase planes for the
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Government of Turkey. The government of Turkey began discouraging the practice in the 1920s, however, characterizing it as too backwards of a practice. In the 1980s, the new government of Turkey began encouraging the competitions as part of Turkey's historic culture.
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At the end of the season there is often a tournament of champions in which the best camels compete. Many international tourists attend the events, making them a key part of the tourist industry in
Western
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The events can occasionally be hazardous to spectators if the camels attempt to flee through the crowd. On some occasions fights also break out between the owners of camels.
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Most fighting camels are bred in Iran or
Afghanistan. A successful camel can be sold for over $ 20,000.
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Fighting Camels, Mughal India, c. 1680. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.
270:"What's a Bigger Draw Than a Camel Fight? A Camel Beauty Contest, of Course"
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167:"Selcuk Journal; In These Prizefights, Camels Wrestle for Carpets"
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organizations have criticized the practice, characterizing it as
366:"Getting the Hump - Camel Wrestling Season Now in Full Swing"
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camels wrestle, typically in response to a female camel in
240:"Camels, Lords of Dying Race, to Fight it Out at Stambol"
141:"Turkey: Tradition of Camel Wrestling Making a Comeback"
246:. Associated Press. 29 January 1929. p. J30
43:being led before them. It is most common in the
211:(7 ed.). New York: Fodor's. p. 242.
139:Christie-Miller, Alexander (27 January 2011).
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372:. 28 January 2010. Archived from
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35:) is a sport in which two male
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333:"Fethiye Times Meets a Camel!"
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108:Alligator wrestling
376:on 1 February 2013
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96:cruelty to animals
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311:978-1-900949-85-9
218:978-1-4000-0815-5
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150:17 February
33:deve güreşi
395:Categories
280:22 January
145:EurasiaNet
124:References
47:region of
426:Wrestling
102:See also
90:Several
85:Anatolia
55:History
29:Turkish
421:Camels
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49:Turkey
45:Aegean
382:2011
349:2011
319:2011
306:ISBN
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41:heat
37:Tülü
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
