Steps urged to popularize Azerbaijani polo game chovgan

By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

World Ethnosport Confederation (WEC) President Bilal Erdogan said at the Ethnosport Forum in Baku that steps should be taken to popularize Azerbaijan's national team game involving horses chovgan around the world.

He made the remarks at an Ethnosport Forum in Baku.

Erdogan expressed his hope that the forum will spark greater interest in national sports in Azerbaijan and around the world.

"We represent our national culture, our country in order to promote our national games in the world. Azerbaijan is also doing similar work," added the confederation president.

He noted that there are great expectations from the development of national sports in Azerbaijan.

Erdogan also stated that he believes the country will be able to hold the National Festival of Nomadic Culture in Gadabay and a similar festival in Baku in the future.

He added that the WEC is pleased to host the Ethnosport Forum in Baku, as Turkey and Azerbaijan are "one nation, two states".

"It is important to preserve our traditions. The traditions of each society are very valuable. In this way, we will build a peaceful future. Bringing together representatives of different countries and peoples is a great achievement, while the whole world is talking about war. We have tried to make this forum the biggest event. Our goal is to cherish the common values ??of humanity. I would like to contribute to peace and solidarity," Erdogan added.

Representatives of more than 40 countries of the world are taking part in the forum, he said.

The 5th Ethnosport Forum opened in Baku to popularize and increase awareness of traditional sports and games. The forum is being held under the motto "The Reviving Traditional Sports" by the WEC.

The two-day event brought together 140 representatives from 14 WEC member countries.

The main mission of WEC is to safeguard, promote, and popularize traditional sports and games to avert their impoverishment or extinction.

The 1st International Ethnosport Forum was held in Antalya, Turkey in 2018 under the title “Reviving Traditional Sports’’ with the participation of ministers, government officials, federation representatives, and academicians from 56 different countries.

Over 200 field experts from 30 different countries attended the 2nd International Ethnosport Forum organized and held in Almaty, Kazakhstan in April 2019 and hosted by the Ethnosport Association of Kazakhstan, an esteemed member of WEC.

At the 3rd Ethnosport Forum held in Antalya, Turkey on February 22-23, 2020, vast emphasis has been placed on the importance of the government’s support for ethnosports.

The main topic of the 4th Ethnosport Forum was the importance of academic research and its practical implementations in ethnosport field along with other significant discussion subjects.