Turkey’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Suat Kilic, issued a statement accepting the Governor of Tokyo’s apology for criticizing Istanbul 2020’s bid for the Summer Olympic Games.
Kilic said, “we accept the apologies of the Governor of Tokyo and now wish for a friendly competition between the candidate cities abiding by the criteria established by the IOC.
“We place the utmost importance on the friendship and mutual respect between the peoples of Turkey and Japan that date back for centuries. We love Japanese people and know that they have sincere and warm-hearted feelings towards Turkish people.
“The spirit of the Olympic values will bring the two nations even closer.”
