Turkish President Wins Powers to Push Winter Olympic Bid

(ATR) Turkey’s interest in bidding for the Winter Olympics in 2026 may have improved greatly, thanks to a referendum narrowly approved by Turkish voters.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wanted to change Turkey’s political system to a presidential one. A series of constitutional changes that would end the parliamentary system were approved in a close vote on Sunday.

The changes give Erdogan much greater powers and could help him realize his goal of landing an Olympics for his country.

Turkey has never tried to host a Winter Olympics but Istanbul has failed five times in efforts to host the Summer Games, falling at various stages of the process for the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2020 Games.

Erdogan was the mayor of Istanbul during the 2004 effort and was Prime Minister of Turkey for the 2012 and 2020 campaigns.

Five days before the referendum, Erdogan announced at a campaign rally in Erzurum that Turkey was considering a bid for 2026 with the eastern provinces of Erzurum, Erzincan and Kars as hosts. The region has hosted winter sports events such as the 2017 Winter European Youth Olympic Festival.

Kemal Kirişci, director of the Center on the United States and Europe's Turkey Project at The Brookings Institution, says for Erdogan the Olympics are "very, very important precisely for making up for the 'failures' though as there is no accountability [since] those failures don’t have any cost attached to them. However, bringing the Olympics would of course be a good cause to crow."

In addition, Kirişcibelieves a successful Olympic bid would boost Erdogan’s status at home.

"It is all about domestic politics, about making himself indispensable. Who cares about the world unless it serves domestic causes."

It appears, though, that mounting a successful 2026 bid would require Erdogan and Turkey to pay more attention to the world outside of the country.

Kirişciblames previous failures in part on the country’s leadership adopting "harsh rhetoric in the international arena".

The referendum giving Erdogan his sweeping powers is still facing potential challenges on several fronts amid accusations of fraud. The European Commission, which handles the day-to-day business of the European Union, has declined to congratulate Erdogan on Sunday's vote, according to Reuters. It wants Turkey to launch a transparent investigation. U.S. President Donald Trump, on the other hand, congratulated Erdogan during a phone call on Monday.

One factor in Erdogan’s favor for a 2026 bid is the strong support he has in the areas that would be hosting the Winter Games.

"These are provinces that are die-hard supporters of Erdogan, just check previous voting patterns," says Kirişci. "They are also winter sports centers hard hit by the collapse of tourism, and it is inevitable that the bid has also to do with gaining hearts and pockets."

The strong local support should help Erdogan avoid a failed referendum from voters, the downfall of many recent Olympic bids. The Graubunden/Eastern Switzerland bid for 2026 was the latest, scuppered by voters in February.

The remaining Swiss bid, centered around Sion in Western Switzerland, gained Swiss federal approval last week.

No other countries have officially jumped into the race for 2026 yet. Sweden (Stockholm), Austria (Innsbruck), Canada (Calgary), Japan (Sapporo) and a potential Norwegian bid are expected to make their decisions in the coming months.

The 2026 bid cycle is expected to be opened by the IOC prior to the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang next February.A host for the 2026 Games will be decided at the 2019 IOC Session.

Written by Gerard Farek

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