Azernews.Az

By Gulgiz Dadashova

The Azerbaijani capital Baku hosted the first meeting of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) Coordination Commission for the inaugural European Games - Baku 2015 on Tuesday.

First Lady of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva attended the event.

Prior to the meeting, Mrs. Aliyeva met EOC President Patrick Hickey and Greek Olympic Committee President Spyros Capralos.

They stressed Azerbaijan`s experience in organizing high-level tournaments, adding that the country has good potential to host the first European Games.

Addressing the meeting later, Mrs. Aliyeva, Chairperson of the Organizing Committee, said Azerbaijan is proud to host the inaugural European Games.

"We regard this decision of the EOC as the recognition of the recent successes of Azerbaijan, including in sports. I would like to note that the government and people of Azerbaijan support the European Games. We are excited that Azerbaijan will play an important role in the history of the European Olympic family," Mrs. Aliyeva said. "We recognize our responsibility and this prompts us to guarantee the success of the inaugural European Games. We can assure you that Azerbaijan is ready to do its utmost to achieve this goal. To achieve this goal, we are ready to study the experience of the previous Olympic and Regional Games organizers."

Mehriban Aliyeva touched upon the issues facing the Coordination Committee in the initial phase.

She said special attention should be paid to the level of readiness of the infrastructure, including the Olympic village, information transfer, preparation of the Games and strategy on work with media outlets that will cover the Games, approval and completion of the sport program.

Other speakers at the event included EOC President Patrick Hickey and Greek Olympic Committee President Spyros Capralos.

Patrick Hickey said the fact that Mehriban Aliyeva chairs the Organizing Committee provides grounds for the high-level organization of the inaugural European Games.

At the meeting, foreign experts made presentations on the holding of the Games. The sides exchanged views on the opening and closing ceremonies, cultural events, media strategy and relations, etc.

The members of the EOC Coordination Commission assured that they will do their best for a high-level organization of the Games.

Mehriban Aliyeva thanked the participants for the proposals made at the meeting, saying that this is the first such experience for Azerbaijan.

Later Patrick Hickey presented a special logo of the European Olympic Committee to Mehriban Aliyeva.

The meeting was followed by a press conference where Azerbaijani Youth and Sports Minister Azad Rahimov said that the First European Olympic Games will be held in Baku June 12-28.

Rahimov said the competition will take place on 19 kinds of sports and 6,351 athletes will take part in the competition.

The meeting put forward proposals related to the preparation of the main logo and website, opening and closing ceremonies, and awarding medals, he said, adding that the discussions are underway.

"We can hold the greatest sports event in Europe at a high level," he said.

Rahimov went on to say that the sports facilities were presented at the meeting. The representatives of the committee visited various sports facilities and Olympic Village, the minister said.

Rahimov said an executive committee which began work in the Olympic Village has been established and foreign experts have already been attracted.

This will allow gaining more experience for holding larger events in the future, he added.

Earlier on Monday, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received members of the EOC Coordination Commission.

President Aliyev said holding the inaugural European Games is a major test.

"I hope that together we can achieve the goal - to organize one of the best events in the history of the Olympic movement. This is our goal. Now we are working very hard," he said.

President Aliyev said Azerbaijan is capable of organizing an international event of such a high level.

"We intend to organize these Games at the level of the summer Olympic Games. We will try to organize these Games at the highest possible level and, of course, they will go down in the history of the European Olympic family as inaugural games. They will set specific criteria for future games. I do hope that we will achieve our goal together," President Aliyev said.

He said the fact that the European Games are to be held in Baku suggests that European heritage has been here for centuries.

"One of our main goals is to create an atmosphere in the city in which athletes, visitors and tourists coming to Baku for the first time feel comfortable, safe and at home, and enjoy this exciting international event," President Aliyev said.

In turn, Patrick Hickey said that there is a great interest in these Games in Europe and great success will be achieved thanks to the cooperation of both sides.

"I am sure that thanks to your efforts and the efforts of all our Azerbaijani colleagues, the first European Games in your country will achieve success in the true sense of the word," he said.

Vice President of the European Olympic Committees Alexander Kozlovsky expressed satisfaction that the first European Games will be held in Baku.

"Baku has changed beyond recognition in recent years. Baku has become one of the most beautiful cities of Europe and indeed the world. On our way here we witnessed extensive construction activities everywhere. I am sure that in a few years we will witness even greater development of Baku," he said.