KONYA, Türkiye, August 17. The Turkish city of Konya has been chosen as a sports capital of 2023 and regular international events are expected to be held here in the future, Mayor of Konya Ugur Ibrahim Altay said in interview with Trend.
According to him, this decision was made by the European Capitals and Cities of Sport Federation together with UNESCO at an event held in Milan.
"Meetings within the federations are continuing. We want to hold more international competitions in our city," Altay stated.
The mayor stressed that Konya is one of the most important cities of Islamic culture.
"There are not many cities in the world that have witnessed great culture for 200 years, especially as the capital of the Seljuk Empire high medieval Turko-Persian Muslim empire for 200 years. For this reason, Konya was chosen as the venue for the Islamic Solidarity Games. It's an important cultural city in the Islamic world. Konya wants, on the one hand, the culture of cities to manifest itself in people, and on the other - to strengthen our brotherhood on the basis of sports," he said.
In addition, Turkish city plans to expand its touristic opportunities.
"After the opening of the V Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, many parts of the world heard about our city. Currently, work is underway on the development of tourism in Konya," the mayor added.
