Minister of Youth and Sports Dr. Osman Aşkın Bak said, "For 4 days, athletes have been continuing their journey here in the competition. 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 European continent of the DP World Tour, took place at Carya Golf Club. Minister of Youth and Sports Dr. Osman Aşkın Bak made statements to the press before the award ceremony.

Minister of Youth and Sports Dr. Osman Aşkın Bak stated that the Turkish Airlines Open golf tournament is a very important activity for sports tourism, and said, "For 4 days, athletes have been continuing their journey here in the competition. 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, investments have been made in many sports facilities, including stadiums, indoor swimming pools, and gyms. And within the framework of these investments, our country has hosted many international organizations in sports tourism. We have held world championships and European championships in various branches. Of course, golf is developing as an important sport that is among the top 5 most watched sports in the world, followed by very different audiences, including strategy, psychological management, patience, and techniques. It is very important for our country. Due to Antalya's and our country's significant tourism potential, 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 popularize it. It is especially seen as an expensive sport, but when you look at other countries, the process is very different. Hopefully, we want to see athletes in the Olympics as well. Today, 7 of our athletes participated. 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, mentioning that they are hosting an organization watched in approximately 650 million households in 175 countries, said, "We thank the Turkish Golf Federation and Turkish Airlines. As you know, Turkish Airlines is our country's flag carrier. It is an important brand where we have made very serious investments. It is important to realize such an organization with the support of this brand. As the Ministry of Youth and Sports, we also 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 for the promotion of the country and Antalya. Among our goals is to increase the number of these golf courses. It is important to increase the number of these types of courses, golf courses, in big cities like Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir, where the business world is located. It is an important environment where senior people coming for business can conduct business meetings and establish common friendships. It is also very valuable in terms of business investment. Especially, 150 athletes from 30 countries came and participated. The process will continue from now on. We will continue to support this. It is especially important to express this. It is important in terms of spreading the sports culture 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. It has the capacity to host 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 better 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 earn foreign currency and increase tourism revenue. It is a serious instrument in this direction. We are a country capable of successfully holding such high-level tournaments. Antalya is used to this. These will definitely be realized in our other cities as well. We thank the golf federation and its management. They also made a lot of effort for this to be 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 here, the beauty of the course and nature very much, and 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.