About Kurash

Kurash (also kuresh, koresh and similar variants) refers to a number of folk wrestling styles practiced in Central Asia. The English name comes from the term for “wrestling” in some Turkic language.

Kurash wrestlers use towels to hold their opponents, and their goal is to throw their opponents off the feet. The wrestling is the main competition at the folk festival Sabantuy.

Since 1998 Kurash Confederations have been officially opened on 5 continents (in Africa, America, Europe, Asia and Oceania), as well as 136 national Kurash federations have been established. This website represents the european confederation.

The European Kurash Confederation (EKC) was founded at the congress of Budapest 20/08/2001. The first president of EKC was Mr. Ibrahim Ostek (Turkey). From 2004 the EKC was directed by Mr. Captan Yashar Basharan (Turkey). The last and current president of EKC is Mr. Merabi Iliadis (Greece).