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President Aliyev: First European Games â€“ historic victory, achievement of Azerbaijan

18 July 2016 12:00 (UTC +04:00)

Baku – APA. An official ceremony was held in Baku July 18 to see off the Azerbaijani athletes who will participate in the 31st Summer Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, President of the National Olympic Committee Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony.

The head of state made a speech at the event.

The president expressed confidence that Azerbaijan’s athletes will decently represent the country at the 31st Summer Olympic Games and the 15th Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

He noted that the country will be represented by 56 sportsmen at the Olympic Games.

“Over the past period, the country’s sportsmen have always succeeded in the international competitions, including the Olympics,” said Ilham Aliyev.

Azerbaijan is known in the world as a sporting nation today, said the president, stressing that expedient policy is being pursued for the development of sports in the country.

President Aliyev underlined that in recent years international sports events have been regularly held in Azerbaijan and the organization of European championships in Baku has become commonplace.

The head of state regarded all this as a manifestation of the attention paid to Azerbaijan by the international sports community.

Stressing the successful organization of the first-ever Baku 2015 European Games, Ilham Aliyev said that the major sports event, held at Olympic level, has opened up the opportunity for athletes and guests to get acquainted with Azerbaijan.

“The world saw that Azerbaijan is a developed modern country and there are strong athletes in our country,” said the president, calling the first-ever European Games a historic victory and achievement of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s president recalled that the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Europe, taking important place in the international rating and having a total audience of 500 million people, was held in Baku last month.

“It was an important event in terms of promoting Azerbaijan and Baku, and will definitely play a special role in the development of the country’s tourism potential,” he added.

President Aliyev noted that Baku will host the World Chess Olympiad in 2016 and the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017.