23rd Summer Universiade Izmir, Turkey – July 2005
Name: EFE
Efes are the leaders and heroes of societies that lived in Western Anatolia during the early nineties. The village dandy Efe, guards and defends all the members of his society and also deals with all kinds of their social work and events as if he is the father of all. For this reason, all the members of the society behave respectfully towards him with strong, emotional, family ties. The Efes were legends in these areas with their smart, fearless, alert dashing behaviors as brave and manly young fellows. They became the symbol of braveness, power and justice throughout the Aegean history.
Nowadays, the word “Efe” is the explanation of a virtuous, brave man who is the symbol of justice in every case. Therefore, we call successful athletes “Efe” stating their various qualifications in one brief word.
Artist: Abdurahman Tekin
History: The Universiade mascot is the charming Halcyon Smyrnensis which is one of the rare migrating birds of the Izmir Bird Paradise, named after the ancient Latin name of the town of Izmir…
Being able to live in different conditions (forests, inland, riverside and shores), the bird symbolizes the Universiade spirit, where the energy and dynamism of different sports unite .
You can see the eager look in his brilliant eyes, definitely looking forward to meet the world youth in his homeland Izmir, in 2005.