Sports Minister and athletes leave for UK

Youth and Sports Minister Suat Kilic and most of the Turkish athletes who will represent Turkey in London 2012 Olympics departed for London yesterday. Speaking to reporters prior to his departure, Kilic said that there were 114 athletes in Turkish group, 66 of them were women. "For the first time in our history, the number of women athletes is higher than the number of men. We hope to witness the same increase in the number of medals to be received as well," Kilic said. Kilic added that the government worked extraordinarily hard to do everything and take all necessary steps for success in the Olympics and called on the society to show solidarity and support.