QUEBEC CITY
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that the race to host the 2020 Summer Games was now a three-way battle between Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo after Doha and Baku were out as candidates.
Media manager of OIC Mark Adams and Manager of Olympic Games Gilbert Felli announced the shortlist of candidates to host the event at the IOC's executive board meeting in Quebec City on Wednesday.
Turkish officials welcomed the decision at the meeting.
Hasan Arat, vice chairman of National Olympic Committee of Turkey (NOCT), who was representing Turkey at the meeting shared the good news with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The IOC will announce the winner between bids from Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul in September 2013.
Ugur Erdener, chairman of NOCT, has said that Turkey's candidate status for 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games was a result of their expectations.
Talking to the AA correspondent on Thursday, Erdener said that Turkey was the luckiest country to host 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
We have been working so hard with our colleagues and foreign advisers over the issue, and everybody was believing to get this result, stated Erdener.
Erdener thanked Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other ministers and officials for their support.
NOCT plays a leading role in helping the Turkish youth and the whole nation regardless of age, gender and regional differences to become healthy, sophisticated, peaceful and responsible citizens who have internalized the principles of Olympism and the Turkish Republic by fulfilling its liabilities and duties caused by the Olympic agreement.
If Turkey hosts the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, for the first time in history, the game will span two continents, joining east and west. It will be the first time the Games have been held in a secular Islamic country, engaging a huge population with a rich cultural history and a proud sporting tradition.
Reporting by Seyit Aydogan)
