Baku 2015 European Games presented in Istanbul

/AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

The Heydar Aliyev Foundation has presented Baku 2015 European Games at a ceremony in Istanbul.

Azerbaijan’s First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Chair of the Baku 2015 European Games Organizing Committee, Mehriban Aliyeva attended the presentation ceremony, which has already been held in Cannes, Athens and Berlin.

Supported by Azerbaijan’s embassy in Turkey, the event attended by Turkish political, public, cultural and sports figures provided an insight into the preparatory works carried out by the Organizing Committee.

Participants first visited an exhibition of bronze statues dedicated to Baku-2015. The exhibition featured more than 20 works by Azerbaijani sculptors. Participants then viewed photos of must-see places and cultural and architectural landmarks of Azerbaijan.

Later, a message of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan was read out at the ceremony.

Mehriban Aliyeva addressed the event to highlight Azerbaijan’s development, and provide an insight into the preparatory work for the Baku 2015 Games.

Azerbaijan has turned into one of the fastest developing countries of the world in the last 10 years, she stressed.

“Today Azerbaijan is famous in the world as a sport country. Support to sport, the Olympic movement, is one of the main directions of the state policy. After the restoration of independence, we have been participating in the Olympic Games from 1996, and the athletes have achieved great results in a short time. The number of medals won is increasing from game to game,” she stressed.

The country also pays a great attention to construction and modernization of sports infrastructure, Aliyeva noted.

She went on saying that more than 50 modern Olympic centers were built in the Azerbaijani regions over the past decade. The number of young people involved in sports, choosing sport as a profession, is growing every year and new perspectives; new opportunities are opening up for them.

“Our country has gained a great experience in holding international sporting events. Azerbaijan has held the world and European championships in various sports. The fact, that all of these events were organized at the highest level is noted by both athletes and sporting community.

“In short, taking into account all these factors, achievements of sportsmen, athletes, strong support of the state for the development of sports, the existing sports infrastructure and, of course, the rapid development of the country in general, the European Olympic Committee decided to hold these Games (European Games) exactly in Azerbaijan,” the first lady stressed.

At the end, she invited all the guests of the event to visit Baku, Azerbaijan, to watch the inaugural European Games closely.

The ceremony also featured a promotional video on Baku-2015.

Turkish Youth and Sports Minister Akif Çagatay Kilic praised Azerbaijan’s achievements in the field of sports.

Baku will host the inaugural European Games next summer on June 12 – 28, involving more than 6,000 athletes from the National Olympic Committees of Europe across 17 days of competition in what will be the largest sporting event in Azerbaijan’s history.

The Games were designed and are to be regulated by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) and run with the support of the Baku 2015 European Games Operation Committee (BEGOC).

Baku was awarded the honor of being the first host of the games at the 41st EOC General Assembly in Rome, on December 8, 2012. The European Games will take place every four years thereafter, with the next competition due to be held in 2019.

Azerbaijan’s hosting the inaugural European Games testified to the country’s growing international prestige. Azerbaijan is becoming well positioned as a sporting nation and the country has gained significant experience in hosting major events.

During 22 years of its independence Azerbaijan has won 26 Olympic and nearly 2,000 world and European medals.