oil-wrestlers were part of his entourage and Impératrice Eugenie visited the wrestling-tournament. Wrestling was a tough sport, but oil-wrestling was even harder. It was considered the most difficult sport in the world. Virantekke After the Balkan War of 1912, the event's original Kırkpınar location was lost, so the tournament was relocated to Virantekke, now the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint on the Bulgarian border. Edirne After 12 years, the annual oil-wrestling competition of Kırkpınar moved to yet another location. Since 1924, bouts are held on the Sarayiçi island near Edirne. The last Ottoman sultan was exiled to Malta. In what remained of the Empire, almost everything traditional was replaced or westernized. The language was "purified" by replacing words of Persian or Arabic origin with words derived from Turkic roots. Even a sport prevailing any western sport was at stake. Atatürk thought of putting the wrestling organizations directly under his own sponsorship. He ordered Selim Sırrı Tarcan (1874–1956) to restyle oil-wrestling according to his guidelines for sport in the new Turkish Republic. As a result, the winner of the Edirne competition was no longer "Başpehlivan of the Kırkpınar" but "Champion of Turkey". Instead of traditional prizes such as the "Altın Kemer" (Golden Belt) and horses, donkeys, or camels; medals similar to those in the Western world began to be awarded. It was feared that with such a change of reward "because they did so in Europe" effect a lack of participation by the pehlivans. The officer responsible for sports in the new republic had to come to a compromise, allowing the winning wrestler in the highest category to be awarded the title of "Başpehlivan of the Year", and rewards of whichever animals the organizers could obtain. Selim Sırrı Tarcan also restricted the Golden Belt: It could only be awarded for the Edirne Kırkpınar, and only to a "Turkish Champion" who had won the event for three consecutive years. The weight of the Belt was limited to 1450g of 14-carat gold. The Kırkpınar wrestling competitions of Edirne were still held under the protectorate of the "Agha". The Agha welcomed his guests and accommodated them in the hotel, held dinners, and organized festivities. Also, he awarded the prizes to the winners in their categories. Just before the final of the Kırkpınar, the organizing Agha held an auction. The bids were placed on a ram or sheep. The highest bidder became the "agha" of the next