TransAnatolia Rally Raid Started in Mersin

The TransAnatolia Rally Raid, which offers a route from the south to the east of Turkey, started in Mersin. The organization, which is being held for the 14th time this year, will end in Van on September 7.

Mersin Governor Ali Hamza Pehlivan said at the start ceremony held in Özgecan Aslan Peace Square that they attach importance to every branch of sports. Expressing that they attach great importance to the adoption and acceptance of sports especially by young people and children and their existence as a lifestyle in their lives, Pehlivan said, “This race has many dimensions. Sports is the starting point. Along with this, the promotion of the routes it passes through, its contribution to the economy, and its contribution to tourism are of course its dimensions that come with it and reflect on all areas. The race that will start here today will pass through the borders of 15 provinces and will finally conclude in Van on September 7. Rally and Raid are of course technical concepts; one is related to duration and the other is based on the tracking of navigation-based projections. Of course, there will be those who win this race. But the winners will be all the participants, the guests who act with them and our provinces and Turkey on the transit routes. We know that such races will make significant contributions to the promotion of the routes they pass through. Along with sports, nature and adventure are also combined in a pot, they will be combined. Many intentions, many goals and many beneficial results are integrated in a race, in a competition.”

“Be our sports ambassador, be our cultural ambassador, be our heart ambassador”

Emphasizing that Mersin is one of the most beautiful and rare cities of Turkey, Pehlivan said, “I believe that our over 600 guests, including nearly 100 competitors who came here, had a good time. They also had the opportunity to get to know our city during their stay here. Mersin is a city where history, nature, culture and many values ​​blend with the turquoise of the Mediterranean on one side and the green of the Taurus Mountains on the other; from industry to agriculture, from trade to tourism, many sectors continue on their way in a harmonious way and raise the bar every passing day and increase the level of development and success steps day by day. In this sense, we believe that all our guests have had the opportunity to get to know our city. And our only request from them is this; ‘Please be our sports ambassador, our cultural ambassador, our heartfelt ambassador and bring our greetings, good wishes and love to the routes you go. Whenever you have the opportunity, come back to our city. Be our guest’, we say.”

Following the speeches of TransAnatolia General Coordinator Burak Büyükpınar and TransAnatolia Sports Director Orhan Çelen, the start of the TransAnatolia Rally Raid, Turkey’s first and only and one of the world’s largest and most challenging races, organized with the permission of the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the support of the Turkish Automobile Sports Federation, was given.

The competition, which started in Mersin, will end in Van

TransAnatolia Rally Raid, which manages to bring together nature, adventure and sports in a single race, will pass through Karaman, Konya, Niğde, Adana, Kayseri, Yozgat, Sivas, Erzincan, Tunceli, Elazığ, Bingöl, Muş and Bitlis and will end in Van on September 7. Hundreds of competitors from 10 countries participated in TransAnatolia Rally Raid, which has hosted over a thousand competitors from 27 different countries in the unique geography of Turkey to date.

The 2,200-kilometer race is held in two separate categories: rally and raid for motorcycles, 4×4 cars, SSV, Quad and trucks. While competitors compete against time in the rally, participants compete with navigation in the raid category. – MERSİN