Turkish Wrestling is a form of wrestling originating in Turkey. Competitors douse themselves with olive oil and attempt to pin their opponent to the ground.

Turkish wrestling is a form of wrestling where competitors where leather attire then douse themselves in olive oil and compete in a match against one opponent in attempts to establish superiority over the opponent.

The goal of Turkish wrestling is to establish complete superiority over an opponent.

Unlike Olympic wrestling, oil wrestling matches may be won by achieving an effective hold of the kisbet. Thus, the pehlivan aims to control his opponent by putting his arm through the opponent's kisbet. Originally, matches had no set duration and could go on for one or two days, until one man was able to establish superiority, but in 1975 the duration was capped at 40 minutes for the baspehlivan and 30 minutes for the pehlivan category.

The earliest records of oil wrestling date back to Egypt in 2650 BCE. The origins of Turkish wrestling date back to the times of the Turkish nomadic tribes. Wrestling, even at that point, was considered a national sport of sorts, although they had no conception of the Greco-Roman style and used a freestyle wrestling. Around the 10th century CE, according to Islamic law, the Turks covered themselves from navel to knee. Once they encountered the Greco-Roman form of wrestling, modern day Turkish wrestling was born. The freestyle and leather clothing came from traditional Turkish wrestling called karakucak, and the olive oil came from the Greeks. Yearly, during the early part of summer, wrestlers gather to compete in a three-day tournament to crown chief hero of Turkey.

Kisbet
Olive oil

Kisbet - the leather attire worn by wrestlers

Pehlivan - a term for the wrestlers meaning "hero"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_wrestling