Antalya adds 2 major events to its hosting crown

By Seyit Ahmet Aytac

ANTALYA, Turkey

The Turkish Mediterranean resort city of Antalya is a major tourist destination, with its airport attracting some 28 million passengers a year, according to 2015 figures.

During the , when the skies are still sunny but temperatures have dipped, the city still manages to keep busy with such events as the ongoing international Red Cross/Red Crescent meetings, and the Turkish Airlines Golf Open, which ended Sunday.

During the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) global statutory meetings, set to end on Nov. 11, Turkish Red Crescent head Kerem Kinik was elected the group’s vice president for the European zone.

Kinik told the weeklong meeting’s opening ceremony that the “power of humanity” is the strongest remedy for a better world.

Outgoing IFRC head Tadateru Konoe was also succeeded by Italy's Francesco Rocca, who bested candidates from Norway, Jordan, and Sweden to win the post.

The meetings also featured a gala dinner attended by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who pledged, ''Turkey will remain at the forefront in dealing with humanitarian crises.''

The famed “Fire of Anatolia” dance troupe performed at the dinner.

Turkish Airlines is the transportation sponsor of the meetings, attended by nearly 1,500 guests from all over the world.

Antalya also hosted the Turkish Airlines Open 2017 Golf Tournament on Nov. 2-5.

The tournament, part of the European Tour Final Series, ended on Sunday with the victory of Justin Rose from Team England.

These events added to Antalya’s list of major organizations it has successfully hosted, including the November 2015 G20 summit and in May 2016, the High-Level Comprehensive Mid-Term Review of the Implementation of the Istanbul Program of Action on the Least-Developed Countries.