Turkey welcomes EU youth Olympics Festival

Turkey is getting ready to host the European Youth Olympics Festival (EYOF) for the first time in the city of Trabzon, northeast of the country on the Black Sea coast. The city authorities have declared their readiness for the event in which more than 3,000 athletes from 49 countries are supposed to participate, the Turkish daily (Hurriyet) reported. The number of athletes taking part in the event in Turkey is considered the largest number of participants in the games’ history. An opening ceremony is planned for the festival today, on Saturday, and the games will begin on July 24, continuing for six days. “This is a historical opportunity for Trabzon and the city is doing its best to make the most out of this opportunity,” Trabzone mayor Dr. Orhan Fevzi Gumurcoglu said, adding, “I urge Trabzon residents to show their hospitality in accordance with the Olympic spirit.” “European youth will be welcome in our city and they will be hosted in our Olympic village in the best possible way,” said the games’ general manager, Nihat Doker. The EYOF is a biennial, multi-sport event for youth athletes from 49 member countries. It has a summer edition, which was held for the first time in Brussels, Belgium, in 1991 and also a winter edition which began two years later in Aosta, Italy.