Davos, January 23, AZERTAC

Presentation of Baku-2015 first European Games has been held in Davos.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended the event.

Billboards highlighting the first European Games that will be organized in Baku this year have been installed in public places both in Zurich and Davos. This allowed to familiarize delegations participating in the World Economic Forum with Azerbaijan, its rich culture and sports traditions.

Organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the event was attended by Swiss public and political figures, representatives of the international sports community, and foreign delegates attending the World Economic Forum.

The guests first viewed an exhibition of bronze statues by Azerbaijani sculptors devoted to Baku-2015. Called “We Together”, the exhibition featured over 20 works related to various types of sports. The guests were presented various publications of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation about Azerbaijan, including booklets devoted to the first European Games.

President Ilham Aliyev made a speech at the event.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev:

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

Dear friends,

Firs of all thank you for being with us this evening. It`s a great pleasure to see all of you at our reception and presentation of Baku-2015 European Games.

In less than five months Baku will host the first European Games. These are the Games which have never been held. Unlike other continental Games, European Games have never been held, and we are very grateful to European Olympic family for making a decision to have these Games in Azerbaijan.

The decision was made at the end of 2012, so as you can imagine we have only two and A half years for preparation for the Games, which are much bigger than Winter Olympic Games. We expect to have more than 6,000 athletes who will compete in 20 sports, and 16 of them are Olympic sports. Two and a half years, of course, is a very limited time frame, but with the great support from the European Olympic Committees we established a strong partnership and today a multinational team of representatives of more than 40 countries is working hard to organize Games at the highest possible level.

I think one of the reasons for making a decision to have these Games in Baku is achievements of our athletes. Azerbaijan, during the years of independence, showed itself also as a country with traditions in sport. Our success at the last London Olympic Games was very important for our people. We got 10 medals, two of them were gold. And we were ranked number 30 in the world, and number 15 among the European countries.

So, I think that was one of the reasons. Another reason was rapid development of Azerbaijan. During the years of independence, particularly during the last 10 years, our economy grew more than three times, and in its assessment, Davos World Economic Forum ranks Azerbaijan number 38 with respect to global competitiveness of economy. Economic development and modern infrastructure also played its role in making a decision to have the Games in Baku.

So we are waiting for the guests, for tourists. We are in the final stage of preparation. And, of course, the Games allow us to invest in the projects which anyway will be implemented, but not in a short period of time. So a lot is being done to create the modern sports infrastructure. We are building Baku Sport City just on the shores of the Caspian Sea. We are renewing our transportation infrastructure, which will be may be one of the bests in the region. New hotels are being opened in Baku. And the new promenade area, which has a length of16 kilometers and goes along the shores of the Caspian, will also be a very nice place for guests, athletes and tourists to enjoy themselves.

We hope that all the countries will send good athletes to the Games because the standards of European Games, to a certain degree, will be formed in Baku. The way how we organize the Games probably will lead the way for other cities, and I hope there will be many competitors to have the next European Games in their countries.

The development of Azerbaijan`s sport infrastructure has been very important for us during the last years. And we are proud that after European Games in Baku in 2015, we will have World Chess Olympiad in 2016. At the same time, for the first time Formula 1 will come to our region. In 2016 we will have Formula 1 and it will be a city circuit. In 2017 we will have Islamic Solidarity Games, which unite the Muslim world. And it is very symbolic: in two years Baku will host European Games and Islamic Games. And this is what Azerbaijan is. It is a multinational, multi-confessional country where representatives of all the religions live in peace, dignity. It is a multicultural society, and recent decision to create an international center for multiculturalism in Azerbaijan has historic background and is also a real reflection of our state policy.

Sport unites people of the world. During Olympic Games all the wars should stop. Representatives of different countries, which are at war with each other, fight with dignity, shake hands and congratulate the winner during the sport competition. This is sport. This is Olympic movement. This is a unique opportunity in the world, which unites all the nations.

So we hope that European Games will be also the Games of friendship, partnership, and that the victory will be celebrated by all of us.

I would like to use this opportunity to invite all of you to be our guests in Baku, and hope to see you in the beginning of June to enjoy together this remarkable achievement.

Once again, dear friends, thank you for being with us. Wish you a pleasant evening.

Thank you.

X X X

President of the European Olympic Committees Patrick Hickey addressed the ceremony.

Participants of the event then watched a film about Baku-2015.

The Baku 2015 Games will take place in 21 stadia and facilities. The official opening ceremony of the Games will take place in the 68,000-seat Baku Olympic Stadium. The Athletes Village will accommodate up to 7,300 people. Europe's first senior multi-sport event will consist of more than 6,000 athletes competing in 20 sports from 49 countries.

In the years of independence Azerbaijani athletes have won 26 Olympic and nearly 2000 world and European medals.