BAKAN BAK: WE ATTACH GREAT IMPORTANCE TO SPORTS TOURISM
Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. Osman Aşkın Bak, said, "Athletes have been continuing their journey in competition here for 4 days. It is a very important activity, especially in terms of sports tourism. In the previous process, during my previous term as minister, I also participated in the Turkish Airlines Open here. We attach great importance to sports tourism."
The Turkish Airlines Open, which is the first tournament on the DP World Tour in Europe, was held at Carya Golf Club. Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. Osman Aşkın Bak, made statements to the press before the award ceremony.
Stating that the Turkish Airlines Open golf tournament is a very important activity for sports tourism, Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. Osman Aşkın Bak, said, "Athletes have been continuing their journey in competition here for 4 days. It is a very important activity, especially in terms of sports tourism. In the previous process, during my previous term as minister, I also participated in the Turkish Airlines Open here. Of course, we attach great importance to sports tourism. It is also included in our government policy. As you know, in the last 23 years in Turkey, under the leadership of our President, many sports facilities, stadiums, indoor pools, and gyms have been invested in. And within the framework of these investments, our country has held many international organizations in sports tourism. We have held world championships, European championships and similar organizations in different branches. Of course, golf is one of the top 5 most watched sports in the world, followed by very different audiences, and is developing as an important sport that includes strategy, psychological management, patience and techniques. It is very important for our country. Due to the serious tourism potential of Antalya and our country, it is also important to attract tourists with high income levels in terms of sports tourism. It is a relaxing and very enjoyable sport. It is not very common in our country, but serious efforts are being made to make it more widespread. It is especially seen as an expensive sport, but when you look at other countries, this process is very different. Hopefully, we want to see athletes in the Olympics as well. 7 of our athletes participated today. One of them is Leon Kerem Açıkalın. He really achieved an important success for the first time. It made us proud. We also had a conversation with him," he said.
'WE THANK THE TURKISH GOLF FEDERATION AND TURKISH AIRLINES'
Minister Bak, noting that they are hosting an organization watched in approximately 650 million households in 175 countries, said, "We would like to thank the Turkish Golf Federation and Turkish Airlines. As you know, Turkish Airlines is our country's flag carrier. It is an important brand in which we have made very serious investments. It is important to organize such an organization with the support of this brand. As the Ministry of Youth and Sports, we provide very serious support to sports tourism. We support many organizations carried out by our federations. It is important for us. It is an organization watched by approximately 650 million households in 175 countries. It is very important in terms of promoting the country and Antalya. Our goals include increasing the number of these golf courses. It is important to increase the number of these types of courses and golf courses in big cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, where the business world is located. It is an important environment where high-level people who come for business can hold business meetings and establish common friendships. It is also very valuable in terms of business investment. In particular, 150 athletes came and participated from 30 countries. The process will continue from now on. We will continue to support this. It is especially important to state this. It is important in terms of spreading the culture of sports in Turkey. Turkey is doing successful things in terms of many international organizations. We will organize the 2032 European Football Championship together with Italy. The infrastructure is ready for this, the stadiums are ready. We have the capacity to hold many championships. The 2026 UEFA Europa League Final and the 2027 Conference League Final will be held in our country. Very serious investments have been made in basketball. I believe that more beautiful organizations and successful results will be achieved in golf in the future. But the main goal for us is to promote our country to the whole world through sports tourism, to show our capacity in sports, and to obtain foreign currency and increase tourism revenue. This is a serious instrument in this direction. We are a country capable of successfully organizing such high-level tournaments. Antalya is used to this. These will definitely be realized in our other provinces as well. We thank the golf federation and the management. They made a lot of effort to get this done. The brand value of Turkish Airlines is very important. The brand value of our country is very important. The players also stated that they enjoyed the service, the beauty of the course and nature very much, and that they had a good tournament. Hopefully, we wish you success, see you at the next tournament. Turkey's path in sports tourism will continue strongly," he concluded.
