ISTANBUL IS READY TO HOST OLYMPIADS

Delivering a speech at the opening of the 1st International Sports Economy Summit, organised by the International Herald Tribune, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis re-emphasized that Istanbul was ready to host the Olympic Games.

In his speech he made at the opening of the summit organized by the U.S’s Herald Tribune daily at Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, reminding that Istanbul hosted several international events, Bagis said:

“We cry out to the whole world that as a nation we all are now ready to organize the Olympics in Istanbul. If the Olympic Games are not held in Istanbul, it would be a shortcoming on the part of Olympiads, not on the part of Istanbul. Indeed, it would be a very fair and natural choice if Istanbul, which served as the capital of three great empires in history and which became the unique city which was designated both European capital of culture and European capital of sports even if it was not an EU member, was decided to host the Olympic Games. It is the shortcoming of the Olympic Games that an international event such as Olympiads was not held in Istanbul before in the history of the Olympics. We are willing to eliminate this shortcoming.”

Noting that when they applied for the Olympic Games as the government, mainly Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and every minister of his cabinet signed separate papers to indicate that they supported this process as the state and the government, Egemen Bagis said, "We are respectful of Turkish Football Federation’s initiative to host European Football Championship. We extend our support to them too. Nonetheless our application for the Olympic Games is a common goal we set as the state and the nation. We seek the support of all our friends”.

Egemen Bagis stated that the only title Istanbul lacked was Olympiads and that he believed Istanbul would acquire this title in a short time.

International Herald Tribune Sports Congress gala dinner was hosted by Minister for EU Affairs Bagis at Topkapı Palace Karakol Restaurant.

Source: AA