Latest news with #OttomanTurkish
France 24
24-04-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Georgia's rugby dreams built on wild folk game
Held every Easter, the fierce contest pits the village's upper and lower halves against each other in a bruising effort to drive the ball into a river. Victory goes to the team that manages to hurl the ball -- stuffed with earth doused in locally made wine and weighing a hefty 16 kilograms (35 pounds) -- into the water. Known as Lelo, the game was first played in Shukhuti in western Georgia more than 150 years ago to commemorate a historic military victory against Ottoman Turkish invaders. Georgians see Lelo as a wild cousin of rugby, a game that has surged in popularity over the last few decades. Fittingly nicknamed the Lelos, Georgia's national rugby team has dominated the second-tier Rugby Europe Championship, clinching the title eight years in a row. "This is where Georgian rugby draws its passion for victory -- from the intense energy rooted in the ancient tradition of Lelo," said local mayor Alexandre Sarishvili. National team head coach Richard Cockerill shares that sentiment. "We're a small country with small numbers, but we're still able to put a team out that can compete with Fiji and Japan and Wales and Italy and win Rugby Europe every year," he told AFP at the squad's Tbilisi training ground. 'Jeopardy' With just 8,000 registered players -- a fraction of the numbers seen in Tier One nations -- Georgia have managed to beat the four sides mentioned above in recent years. Their Under-20s team defeated England ahead of the 2023 World Cup. Yet Georgia remain locked out of the Six Nations, a closed competition that hasn't welcomed a new team since Italy joined in 2000. Former England hooker Cockerill wants meritocracy to trump tradition when it comes to the Six Nations line-up. "We deserve an opportunity to play-off against the bottom team, to prove that we are good enough," he said, referring to Wales's ongoing dismal losing streak. "If a team's lost 17 Test matches on the bounce and is bottom of the Six Nations two years in succession, surely at some point there's got to be an opportunity for Georgia. "We're above Wales in the world rankings... But the gate's shut, isn't it?" Though he admits the push for inclusion is a long shot, Cockerill argues a promotion-relegation playoff would introduce both incentive and risk -- benefitting the sport. "There's a realistic chance that whoever wins Rugby Europe would actually put huge pressure on whoever finishes bottom of the Six Nations. If we're going to grow the game... then I think there should be some jeopardy." 'Containment' With enthusiastic public support and strong government backing, rugby is thriving on a grassroots level in the capital Tbilisi and beyond. But Cockerill warns growth will stall without greater competitive exposure. "We need to learn how to lose, and play as Italy have, as France did when they joined the Four Nations to make it Five Nations, as Fiji have done when they've joined Super Rugby." He envisions a similar trajectory for Georgia, and laments that all the country's best players move abroad to play in competitive club competitions. For now, Georgian rugby is stuck in a holding pattern. The new Nations Cup format, which groups them with other Tier Two sides, offers no path for promotion until at least 2030. "We're being told to wait five more years," Cockerill said. "That's not growth, that's containment." In Shukhuti on Sunday, after hours of punishing scrums, torn shirts, and battered bodies, the men of Upper Shukhuti finally broke through and claimed a hard-won victory. "Lelo captures the combative spirit of Georgians," said local doctor Nanuli Khalvashi, 64, who came to cheer for the Upper Shukhuti team.
Al-Ahram Weekly
12-02-2025
- General
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Seminar on preserving Ottoman manuscripts marks Egypt-Turkey diplomatic relations centenary - City Lights - Life & Style
Turkish Ambassador to Egypt Salih Mutlu Şen held a seminar on the importance of working closely with Egyptian authorities to preserve Ottoman Turkish manuscripts in Egypt, marking this year's centenary celebrations of establishing diplomatic relations between both countries. Ambassador Mutlu Şen hosted the seminar, which Turkish and Egyptian participants attended at his residence in Giza. During the seminar, Director General of the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art, and Culture (IRCICA) Professor Mahmud Erol Kılıç lectured on the Arabic version of the book The Lessons of Mankind in the Thirteenth Century. The book was written by Mohamed Arif Pasha, the clerk of Mohamed Ali Pasha and the governor of Tekirdağ in the Ottoman Empire, and its original copy is preserved at Istanbul University, Professor Kılıç said. He added that this year, the Arabic translation of the book participated in the 56th edition of the Cairo International Book Fair. Kılıç also elaborated on the Ottoman Turkish manuscripts, describing them as an important sign of the nation's memory. He revealed that this work provides direct information about Kavalali Mohamed Ali Pasha and Mohamed Arif Pasha's efforts to spread the Turkish language and culture in Egypt. Furthermore, Professor Kılıç explained that the embassy is working closely with the Egyptian authorities to digitize and preserve the Ottoman Turkish manuscripts. He also pointed out that the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul, which contains the largest manuscripts in the Islamic world, is considered a counterpart to the Egyptian National Library. "Turkey and Egypt are among the most famous countries for adopting and preserving manuscripts. They have the richest collections of Arabic manuscripts in the Islamic world," he emphasized. "This is due to the central location of the two countries in Islamic history and civilization, as they hosted many dynasties, families, and civilizations throughout history, in addition to being the capitals of many countries in their time," Kılıç continued. Kılıç said the world today has more than 1,500,000 Islamic manuscripts distributed among 2,500 collections in over 100 countries and 1,300 cities. "One of the publications of the IRCICA Centre is called the Arab countries in the Ottoman documents and because of this, for example, every street and alley in Palestine was recorded," Kılıç noted when asked about the possibility of translating the manuscripts in the Ottoman archives into Arabic. Turkish ambassador Salih Mutlu Şen grants a copy of the book to Prince Abbass Helmy who was attending the seminar "While the Zionist entity claimed that there is no document proving the Arabs' ownership of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the Palestinians have asked us for this document and we have sent it to them," he affirmed. Ambassador Mutlu Şen expressed his happiness at organizing such a rich seminar and introducing Professor Kılıç. He added that The Lessons of Mankind in the Thirteenth Century is the original source for a truthful understanding of the joint Egyptian-Turkish history. "The original copy of this work was brought to Cairo during the reign of King Fouad and was preserved, copied and translated into Arabic, but then forgotten and lost," he said, thanking Professor Mohamed Sarhan, who translated the book into Arabic. "I am certain that this work will receive great attention from the young generations," Mutlu Şen said. The Turkish ambassador also stressed that this Giza symposium began the celebrations of the centenary of establishing diplomatic relations between Turkey and Egypt. Short link:
