ANKARA
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he was "disappointed" over the decision of the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to choose the Japanese capital of Tokyo, "which had hosted the Olympics before."
Speaking after the International Olympics Committee (IOC) members voted for Tokyo to host 2020 Olympics, Erdogan stated that the IOC decision to choose Tokyo over Istanbul, reminded him of the previous its decisions for Athens and London.
"I have been disappointed that a country, which had hosted the Olympics before, has been elected," he said.
He noted that Turkey, with its Istanbul 2020 bid via the motto "Bridge Together", hoped for "something different" at this time in the voting for 2020 Olympics.
"Istanbul is a city where different cultures and civilizations meet, connecting the continents of Asia and Europe. With several investment projects are due within the framework of the 7-year program, the existing investments in Istanbul, both as infrastructure and superstructure, were far enough to meet the requirements of hosting the Olympics," he added.
Turkish Premier Erdogan stated that "We should respect the result," stressing that running in the final voting is also a great success for Turkey.
"Turkey is a country that succesfully hosted a number of international sports events. The Committee has made such a decision as, probably, they thought that we are not yet ready," he further said.
Erdogan concluded that the sole target of Turkey is now to achieve better results in the Olympics and increase the number of the medals from now on.
Istanbul has lost out to Tokyo on late Saturday at the final voting by International Olympic Committee convened in Argentinian capital Buenos Aires to decide the city to host 2020 Olympics.
In the first round of voting, Istanbul's hopes were kept alive when there was a tie between Istanbul and Madrid with 26 votes each. Istanbul joined Tokyo for the final voting after a second voting was held between Istanbul and Madrid. Turkey with 49 votes to 45 reached the final at the second voting against Madrid.
In the final round of voting Istanbul received 36 votes, not enough to beat Tokyo that had 60 votes of the delegates.
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