Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 5
Trend:
Armenia will take part in the inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, the European Olympic Committees (EOC) President Patrick Hickey said.
He made the remarks in Bangkok, Thailand on Nov. 5, The Washington Times reported citing Associated Press.
The EOC head said Armenia will take part in the European Games in Baku, next year, despite the ongoing conflict between the neighboring countries.
Hickey, along with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, met the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan last month.
The EOC head said "all the problems were solved" and "they have agreed to participate in the games next year."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
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 4 non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition.
Eleven of the sports will offer qualification opportunities for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Those sports include Archery, Athletics, Boxing, Cycling, Shooting, Swimming, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Triathlon, Wrestling and Volleyball.
Baku was awarded the Games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012. The Baku European Games Operations Committee (BEGOC) will organize and run the Games in cooperation with the EOC.