Azerbaijan, Baku, July 12 / Trend /
Today, on 12 July 2013, the Baku 2015 European Games Organizing Committee launched www.baku2015.com, the official source of news from the Baku European Games 2015. The today's launch of the website is dedicated to a very special date in the history of the First European Games "700 days to go", the start of the countdown to the first day of the Baku European Games - the 12th June of 2015.
As of the launch date, the official website allows visitors from all over the world to learn about the First European Games mission, location and scale, sports and venues, and get familiarized with geography, history, economy, sports and culture and many other important spheres of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as informs about the Baku City history, social life, transport and other important details of interest of the visitors of the website and the Games in 2015.
The website will be regularly updated speaking about the progress of preparation works for the Baku 2015 European Games and will suggest interactive sections to get involved in the Games as visitors, volunteers, sport fans, media representatives, etc.
To mark these two important events in the history of the First European games, today, at 22:00pm through 00.00pm, the citizens and the visiting guests of the Baku City will be able to observe a spectacular digital panorama of the "700 days left" countdown at the walls of the famous Flame Towers and outdoor TV screens installed in the center of the Baku City.
At the 41st EOC General Assembly in Rome on 7-8 December of 2012, the 49 National Olympic Committees of Europe voted by an overwhelming majority of 84% approval in a secret ballot for the City of Baku, capitol of Azerbaijan Republic to be the host city for the inaugural European Games in 2015. The Opening Ceremony of the inaugural European Games 2015, a historical event for the European world of sports and culture, will be taking place on Friday, 12 June 2015 and the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, 28 June 2015.
This is indeed one more example of dedicated resilience and commitment of Azerbaijan to promoting and actively developing sports in the country and internationally. The fact that Azerbaijan has been entrusted to host the Games taking place for the first time in the history of Europe, represents high estimation by international and European Olympic movement of our country's commitment, activity and achievements in the field of sport, physical education and culture.
The success and special role of Azerbaijan, as the host of the inaugural Games belongs to the thoughtful and long-thinking sports policy that started in Azerbaijan with election of H.E. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan as the President of the National Olympic Committee on 31 July of 1997. The following years are marked by serious achievements and attention to development of sports and culture in Azerbaijan, making the country a special place in the world not only for its economic development, but also from the strategic and cultural perspectives. Therefore, logically, Azerbaijan is becoming one of the sports world's sport centers, which is associated with both - our sporting success and with the organization of global and European championships and events, as well as the prestigious international competitions in our country. This includes hosting series of landmark events, such as the European Masters Weightlifting Championship, the 57th annual Eurovision Song Contest and FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup only in 2012. In 2013, the country also hosted the IFSC Climbing World Cup and F2 Baku Grand Prix. In the upcoming years, Azerbaijan plans to host a number of high level championships and competitions, including the World Cup 2015, International Chess Olympics 2016 and the AIPS Congress World Sports Press Association in 2014. However, most significant is the fact that Baku was given the right to host the First European Games 2015. The City has also been nominated to host the IV Islamic Solidarity Games 2017. We are fully committed and trust that Azerbaijan will be entitled with the right to host this high level event.
All this provides strong platform to conduct the first European Games at the highest organizational level. Therefore, governed by Clause 32 of Article 109 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and in order to conduct the 2015 inaugural European Olympic Games in Baku at the proper level, H.E. President Ilham Aliyev decreed establishment of the Organizing Committee for conducting the inaugural European Olympic Games in Baku in June-July 2015 chaired by the First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, the President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, member of the Executive Committee of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador.