'ALKA' COMPETITORS MEET PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT

ZAGREB, Aug 6 (Hina) - Competitors in the 'Sinjska Alka' tournament, who are to participate in the official review at the upcoming 2nd World Military Games in Zagreb, on Friday met Parliament President Vlatko Pavletic. Before the meeting, 'alka' competitors and their pages made a tour of the Parliament building. Being an 'alkar' is not only about competition, it is about being a role model for others, especially young people, Pavletic said, and urged the preservation of the centuries-long tradition of the "Sinjska Alka". Alkar Ivan Zorica presented Pavletic with a statuette of an alkar on a horse. The "Sinjska Alka" is a traditional three-day tournament held every year in the Croatian town of Sinj, in the hinterland of Split. The tournament, in which lance-wielding horsemen dressed in traditional outfits match their skills as they target a metal ring suspended over a track, is held every year to mark a local victory over the Ottoman Turks in 1715. The "Sinjska Alka" is apparently one of the last remaining, out of many other such rituals throughout the Central Europe. This year's "Sinjska Alka" was the 284th tournament.