ISTANBUL’S HOSTING THE OLYMPICS WILL HELP OVERCOME THE PREJUDICES

Indicating that the biggest problem Turkey faced in the EU process was the prejudices, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis stated that it would be much more easy for a country which hosts or which is decided to host an activity such as the Olympics to overcome the prejudices.

Egemen Bagis received the chairman of the Istanbul 2020 Bid Committee Hasan Arat at the Ortakoy Office of the Ministry for European Union Affairs. Noting that Arat assumed a new position with the approbation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Bagis said “Arat gets around the world and communicates the candidacy of Istanbul to people. I too, as a person who has a great love of Istanbul and as a member of parliament for Istanbul, stand by Mr. Hasan Arat who made a tremendous effort in order for Istanbul to be selected as the European Capital of Sports. Because I believe that our olympics bid is actually also very important in terms of our EU process.”

Bagis went on to say the following:

“Up until now Istanbul made it to the final stage many times and it was even one of the two cities to be selected, but unfortunately we were not able to host the Olympic Games in Istanbul. For the first time in its history, the Olympics now stand a much better chance of being held in a city which is founded on two continents, through which a sea passes through and which has been the capital of three empires. I think Istanbul has a good chance of victory. I consider that the Olympics have not been hosted by Istanbul so far is a shortcoming on the part of the Olympics, not on the part of Istanbul. And it is my belief that the members of the International Olympics Committee would eliminate this shortcoming and give a very important message to both Turkey and countries in the region and billions of people who feel isolated and broken off from the west. Olympic flame was ignited in the place which is known as Antakya today. I hope that the revival of the Olympic spirit would also be from Istanbul, from this beloved city."