EOC President Praises Turkish Hosts in Belek

TOC home to historic meeting where 2019 European Games host country approved

President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) Patrick Hickey has praised the Turkish Olympic Committee for their warm welcome of the European Olympic family last week in Belek, Antalya, for a variety of meetings which culminated in the approval of the Netherlands as the host of the next European Games in 2019.

The TOC hosted all 50 European NOCs at the Gloria resorts and Sports Arena in Belek – now a famous host of high-level Olympic meetings as well as international sports events – for what Patrick Hickey has described as one of the most successful EOC meetings to date.

EOC President Patrick Hickey said:

"The meetings in Belek were very fruitful, with exciting presentations from upcoming events including the European Youth Olympic Festival in Tbilisi, Georgia next July, the Games of the Small States of Europe in Iceland in 2015, Lillehammer 2016, Rio 2016 and of course Baku 2015 ahead of the inaugural European Games next month.

"The Turkish Olympic Committee have been fantastic hosts – providing us with an ideal setting at the stunning Gloria resorts and presenting to us the Gloria Sports Arena, which is rapidly enhancing its reputation as a hot-spot for International Federations and their athletes. I would like to thank the TOC for welcoming the rest of the European Olympic family so warmly and for their continued contribution and dedication to the Olympic Movement."

The meetings in Belek included the Olympic Solidarity Forum, EOC Seminar, and an EOC Extraordinary General Assembly during which the Netherlands was unanimously approved as the host of the next European Games in 2019.

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