PARIS: The nationwide unrest that has swept Turkey with the focal point in Istanbul will not have any bearing on the city’s attempt to host the 2020 Olympic Games, the bid team said yesterday.
The statement came after two International Olympic Committee (IOC) members said under condition of anonymity they were no longer certain to vote for Istanbul, who are competing for the Games against Madrid and Tokyo.
Their doubts have grown since police cracked down heavily on May 31 on a campaign to save Gezi Park, near Istanbul’s historic Taksim Square, from redevelopment.
The trouble spiralled into mass displays of anger against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seen as increasingly authoritarian, tarnishing Turkey’s image abroad. Opponents accuse Erdogan of curbing freedoms and of pushing conservative Islamic values on the mainly Muslim but constitutionally secular nation.
Erdogan -- who remains the country’s most popular politician and has won three successive elections garnering nearly half the vote in 2011 -- said yesterday that four people, including a policeman, had died in the unrest.
Nearly 5,000 demonstrators, many of them young and middle-class, have been injured.
The two IOC members echoed the same concerns at the level of anger expressed over the redevelopment.
“If this is an indication of people’s disquiet over a shopping centre being built then one fears for what the protests might be if Istanbul win the Games and building work begins on the venues,” said one.
“Similar protests would not be very good for the image of the IOC and could also drag us into endless delays over the construction of the venues and the infrastructure.”
The Istanbul bid has run an effective campaign, based on strong government support both financially and politically, the relatively strong economy and the allure of it being a city that embraces Christians and Muslims. The bid team maintained that all their building projects enjoy widespread support.
“This situation will have no bearing on our ability to deliver our Games concept, which was designed after extensive consultation with environmental groups and NGOs,” the statement read.
AFP
