ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will travel to Argentina to make a final pitch on behalf of Istanbul’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics.
The city’s bid committee said Monday that Erdogan will fly to Buenos Aires from the G20 conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, to lead the Turkish delegation as it makes final presentations before the IOC vote on Sept. 7.
Istanbul is competing against Madrid and Tokyo. This is Istanbul’s fifth attempt to host the games. Its bid has been hampered by anti-government protests and doping scandals in Turkey and the escalating war in neighboring Syria.
The committee announced that the theme for the bid would be “history in the making,” saying the games for the first time would be simultaneously hosted on two continents.
