Turkish delegation holds last presentation for Istanbul 2020

Turkish delegation held the last presentation for Istanbul 2020 yesterday in Lausanne. The briefing delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan has highly impressed the audience. Participating in the presentation to highlight the Turkish government's guarantorship, Babacan said, "Turkey is changing rapidly. We have a very young population and a bolstering, vigorous economy. Olympic Games mean diversity, vigor and energy. Turkey has undergone a significant transformation process. It is experiencing an economic, political and social change. For this reason, I think we are ready." Capitalizing on the economic situation in Turkey, Babacan said that Olympic investment totaling $2.9 billion was insignificant for Turkey, a country which has a budget volume of $400 billion. "General economic indicators point to the fact that we have an infrastructure that would enable us to host the Olympic Games. The amount of investment we allocated for the Olympic Games totaling $19.4 billion seems to be too high, but $16 billion of that amount pertains to our already planned investment. We adopted the law on Olympic Games in 1992, which equips relevant institutions with the relevant authority. We now think that today is the right time for Turkey," Babacan added. Touching on the fact that the government was supported by the people, Babacan underlined the importance attached by the government to infrastructure development. Recalling the plans to build a third bridge over the Bosporus Strait and a third airport in Istanbul which would become the largest airport in the world, Babacan also mentioned the ongoing tunnel construction under the Bosporus Strait. He concluded by saying that everything would be ready when the time comes to organize the games, leaning on the construction capacity of Turkish companies, 30 of which are among the top 100 construction companies of the world. President of Housing Development Administration of Turkey Ahmet Haluk Karabel and Istanbul 2020 CEO Ali Kiremitcioglu took part in this historic presentation. Gizem Girismen, Turkish national sportswomen who got the golden medal in Beijing 2008, took the floor to say, "The possibility of housing the Olympic Games makes me really excited. We will be very honored, if we are given the chance. Please give us a chance." Her words received a lot of applause from the audience. The presentation of the Turkish delegation received positive responses from the IOC, which raised hopes for the 2020 Olympic Games to be organized in Istanbul.