Baku, Azerbaijan, June 3
Trend:
Successful holding of the First European Games by Azerbaijan will be the key to success of the upcoming Islamic Solidarity Games, Azerbaijani ambassador to Algeria Mahir Aliyev told Trend.
The Fourth Islamic Solidarity Games will be held in Azerbaijan in 2017.
Islamic countries have great interest in the European Games in Baku and this interest increased even more because Europe chose namely Azerbaijan for holding the first Games in the history of this continent, the ambassador said.
This is largely due to the fact that Azerbaijan meets all the requirements that are essential for the country for being entrusted to hold the First European Games, according to Mahir Aliyev.
The ambassador said that these requirements include stability, economic development, freedom of speech and democracy. "These criteria are important for Europe which is the cradle of the modern civilization and Europe chose Azerbaijan."
Baku 2015 is the first ever European Games, an exciting and innovative multi-sport event for the continent which will take place on June 12-28, 2015.
There will be a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition.
Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012.
Edited by SI