As the Ottoman Empire extended into Europe, oil wrestling competitions have been held ceremoniously until modern times.

[3] The annual Kırkpınar tournament, held in Edirne in Turkish Thrace since 1346,[4] is the oldest continuously running, sanctioned sporting competition in the world.

[7][8][9][10] The Turkish word for wrestling can be traced back to the Oghuz Turkic languages, which originate from the Eurasian steppes.

After the conquest of Anatolia by Seljuk Turks, a form of traditional freestyle wrestling called Karakucak Güreşi (literally "Ground hug") was popularized, where special leather clothing was worn and wrestlers commenced the competition by pouring olive oil on their bodies.

In the Ottoman Empire, wrestlers trained in special schools called tekke (تکیه), which were both athletic and spiritual centers.

There are some organized oil wrestling competitions outside Turkey, particularly the ones regulated by the Royal Dutch Power Sport Federation (Koninklijke Nederlandse Krachtsport en Fitnessfederatie (KNKF)) in the Netherlands.

Rituals like peşrev also exist in the other kinds of Turkish traditional wrestling (karakucak, aba güreş), but they are much simpler and don't have a developed symbolism.

At the beginning of peşrev, wrestlers line up in rows with the main pehlivan (başpehlivan, the winner of the previous competitions) on the right.

Kıspet is derived from the Arabic word Kiswa, and adheres to the minimum modesty standard of Muslim men where the garment starts at the belt and goes down to just below the knee, covering their Awra.