| Damla Günay, champion archer, was at the festival.
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Turkey’s world champion archer Deniz Günay was on vacation and could not attend, we learned. Her sister, Damla Günay, who is also a champion archer, was there however. I asked their trainer, Kadir Günay, how it was that the country’s best archers hailed from Samsun. He said: “It’s just something about the air we breathe here, I guess. The best runners come from Erzurum and Kars but we produce the best soccer players and the best archers.”
There were two little girls in the competition — Büşra Karpuz and Elif Göksu — both 10 years old. They have been using their bows and arrows for all of one month. I asked them what they thought of the Amazons, and they said, “We had heard about them but we didn’t know that they were such powerful warriors.” Part of the activities in the later hours of the evening was a representation in full costume of the Amazons by students of the Gymnastics and Sports Department of 19 Mayıs University.
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| Legendary women warriors |
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| | The Amazons | |
| | | • | The Amazons, tribes of women warriors of Anatolian mythology, are said to have lived along the shores of the Black Sea.
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Another feature of the evening was a boat ride over the lake to the location where the Amazons are said to be buried. Young modern Amazons visited their ancestors’ graves and as the sun set, lit their torches and offered their tribute to the past. Twenty-three-year-old Tüzin Demir spoke to us of her feelings: “The festival was an opportunity for me to learn more about the Amazons. I wouldn’t have liked to be as savage as they were but their ability to rule and conquer on their own is admirable. I would like our women to be that way too. Our women must have confidence in themselves. That’s the only thing they lack.”
After returning from the lake, the horse race began. A fashion show of authentic regional costumes followed and the singer Soner Arıca entertained with a concert attended by 4,000 people.
There was dancing through the night, and the Festival was officially closed with a speech by Gölyazı Mayor Cemil Dürümlü. A festival of this dimension for a young municipality just one year old is truly a brave endeavor. It’s certain that it has also caused an envious stir in the region, but it is also clear that the people of Gölyazı have appreciated the activity. Mud-clogged roads in the town were paved before the festival started. The garbage dumps were cleaned out and best of all, the people say, a decision for a much needed seawall was taken. To be truthful, it seems the people of Terme, Samsun and Gölyazı aren’t really interested in the Amazons — they’re more concerned with the development of their region, of making their voices heard and getting state aid for their needs.
But the whole program of live music, plays, and sports was just the soothing thing to hit the spot on those hot, sultry summer nights in Gölyazı. And that’s no small accomplishment…
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Amazon arrows to fly at Gölyazı
