Camels went head to head in Bodrum on Sunday.

Thousands of Bodrum residents braved the rain on Sunday to witness camels going head to head in the first Bodrum camel wrestling tournament in eight years.

Camels came from as far away as Canakkale and Milas to pit their strength against each other, and the crowds were not disappointed. In this fascinating sport, two male camels wrestle in response to a female camel in heat being paraded before them. The camels push each other rather than really wrestling, and animals are seldom injured by the match. The sport is slowly dying out, but you can still see this rare spectacle in parts of the Aegean.

Around 3000 people from around the Bodrum area gathered for the event. Young and old, Turkish and expats, town and country folk jostled for ringside seats. Other families made themselves comfortable on the hillsides with plastic chairs and picnic lunches, content to view from a distance. Roaming musicians kept everyone entertained between bouts and there was plenty of good food offered, including spicy camel sausage and kofte.

A number of domestic and international football teams have travelled to Antalya to train over the cold winter months.

The footballers are attracted by the area’s temperate climate, cheap hotel rates and the peace and quiet compared to other main centres.

In the past, hotels would shut up shop for the winter months, carrying out renovations in preparation for the next season, which begins around March. However, many of these hotels are now being filled with footballers.

Despite being better known for its golf, Belek is especially favoured by these sportspeople, who are choosing the resort town over better-known areas in Portugal or Spain.

As well as Turkish clubs, international teams from Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Austria and the Netherlands have made Antalya their temporary winter home.

The local economy is benefiting from the boom as players tend to spend more time and money outside the hotels, unlike a lot of foreign tourists.

Hagia Sophia's six-winged seraph has emerged after extensive renovations to the museum.

Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, the Hagia Sophia has finally reappeared from behind the scaffolding that has obscured the stunning building for the past 17 years.

The former mosque, listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site and one of Turkey’s most significant historical buildings, has undergone a 3.3 million-Lira (£13 million) renovation. Although necessary to preserve the structure, the renovations meant that for the past 15 years the main dome has been obscured.

At a press conference marking the removal of the scaffolding, museum director Haluk Dursun said the six-winged angel mosaic uncovered during the restoration has brought international attention to the museum and highlighted its illustrious history. Measuring 1.5 by 1 metre, the mosaic was last seen by a Swiss architect who worked on restoration efforts in 1847. Now every visitor to the museum can see the 700-year-old angel’s face clearly.
 
“The Hagia Sophia Museum, which is visited by 2.5 million foreigners every year, will continue to inspire people with its new face from now on.” Dursun said.

The angel is thought to be a seraph, an angel described in the book of Isaiah. The seraphim belong to the highest order of angels and said to be the caretakers of God’s throne.

Fireworks lit up the Istanbul sky as the city celebrated its status of European Culture Capital.

Istanbul celebrated its advent as the European Capital of Culture in style on Saturday, with large events in seven areas of the city.

The events kicked off on Saturday evening at a ceremony at the Golden Horn Congress Centre. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who addressed the ceremony, said Istanbul’s fascinating history has made the dynamic city what it is today, having been a capital to Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires.

After the address, spectators were treated to a performance of poetry, dance music and city sound effects, while images of Istanbul played on a large screen. Following the performance, the Prime Minister pressed a large button which triggered a spectacular visual show which involved fireworks covering a square kilometre of sky.

Elsewhere around the city, museums and cultural centres were open until midnight.

The European Capital of Culture is a city selected by the European Union. It holds the title for a calendar year, giving the city a chance to showcase its cultural life and development.

All aboard for a Turkish summer

Turkey’s tourist board is urging sea dogs planning a sailing excursion this year to explore Turkey’s coastline by boat.

Three sides of Turkey are surrounded by clear, blue waters – that’s 8000 kilometres of coastline to discover. What’s more, certain parts of the coastline are only accessible by boat, meaning you’ll find authentic villages almost untouched by tourism.

Turkey has 29 marinas, with a number of new developments underway. The most established marinas are on the southern Aegean and Mediterranean coasts at Bodrum, Izmir, Cesme, Kusadasi, Datca, Marmaris, Gocek, Fethiye, Kalkan, Antalya and Kas. Here, yachties will find top services and facilities, and plenty to do onshore.

The tourism board added that sailors can hire gullets, traditional wooden sailing boats that are ideal for Mediterranean conditions.

Culture and Tourism minister Ertugrul Gunay says work will begin in April to restore the stunning ancient ruins near the Antalya district. And he believes it will be as popular as its famous counterpart, Ephesus.

“Perge is an extraordinary ancient city. The city is very similar to Ephesus, but although Ephesus is world-renowned, Perge is not very well-known, even among Antalya people.”

Perge's spectacular Roman bath

But this is set to change. When Gunay visited the site recently to see the progress of a tower undergoing restoration, he discovered the cost of restoring each marble column was 2,000 Liras (£850). He persuaded the tourism investors visiting the site with him to contribute towards the cost of the remaining 52 columns. They agreed, and work is set to begin in April.

The ancient city was once the capital of the Pamphylia region. Today, it sits 15 kilometres east of Antalya. An acropolis on the site dates back to the Bronze Age. Its impressive ruins include a theatre, a temple and two churches.
Gunay hopes Perge will be a valuable addition to the Antalya tourist map. “[Perge is] one of my dreams and will soon become as popular as Ephesus.”

At seven feet tall, Nikolay Valuev is the tallest and heaviest heavyweight boxer in history. The reigning two-time WBA heavyweight champion has only ever lost one fight in sixteen years. It doesn’t get more formidable than that for Hale, the six-foot-two Bermondsey boy.
So how’s Haye feeling about his chances? Pretty good, he says. And he has every reason to be confident – not only does he have the English on his side, but thousands of North Cyprus Turks are firmly in his corner.
Introduced to North Cyprus by his manager, Adam Booth, Haye quickly fell in love with the area and set up a training camp there. He told The Guardian that Cyprus was the perfect destination as far as training and lifestyle went. “You’ve got the mountains, the sea, all the food is organic and fresh – you can’t beat it.”
As a mark of respect for his second home and its friendly people, Haye sports the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus flag on his shorts in the ring, earning him much respect throughout North Cyprus and Turkey.
“Everyone is really nice and respectful, they shake my hand and that’s it, they let me go about my business … I’ve trained loads of different places … and I’ve definitely got the right balance here.”