Istanbul announced as a candidate city for the 2020 Games

In line with the final list of contenders announced at the International Olympic Committee's Committee (IOC) executive meeting in Quebec City, Canada, Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo will compete to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.  The committee also announced that Baku and Doha were dropped from the running. "We have received good news: Istanbul has been declared a candidate city," Youth and Sports Minister Suat Kilic announced on yesterday morning at a press conference in Ankara, describing the IOC's decision as historic. Turkey had also applied for the 2020 European Football Championship, and the IOC has made it clear that Turkey cannot hold both events. The final decision for the Olympics is to be given in September of next year, while the decision for the European Championship is expected to be made at the beginning of 2014. For Kilic, Turkey fully deserves to be named the host city for the Games. "Istanbul offers the Olympic Games what no other city can," he explains. "The Games would be held on two continents." Furthermore, Ugur Erdener, president of the National Olympic Committee of Turkey, spoke on the IOC’s announcement. "This is a result we expected," he said. "Istanbul has the highest chance of holding the 2020 Olympic Games."