Turkey to launch fifth Olympic bid 11/11/2009 |
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Istanbul has confirmed it will bid for the Olympic Games for a fifth time.
The Turkish city has failed to win the Games on four previous occasions – in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 – but government sports official Mehmet Atalay says it will bid for the 2020 event.
Istanbul skipped the 2016 process, which was won by Rio de Janeiro, and Atalay – head of the International Sports Organisation of the Turkish Republic – said: “We strongly believe that we are going to have the best bid for 2020.
“We didn’t bid for 2016 because we were in a preparation period. It started with the Champions League final, which was a huge success. Turkey is a big country and it has much potential to host such events. But we wanted to get ready [for another Olympic bid] - completely fully ready.”
Atalay claims that 85 per cent of the Turkish population is already behind the bid and added: “We will keep on bidding until we get it. We have the history, we have the culture, we have the experience. We are the bridge between Europe and Asia: different culture, different religions - they all live in Turkey in a friendly environment.”
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