Antalya won its bid on Wednesday to host the botanic event of the prestigious Expo 2016
Antalya won its bid on Wednesday to host the botanic event of the prestigious Expo 2016.
The southern city was declared the winner of a race to host the botanical branch of the Universal Exposition, which is also known as the World’s Fair.
The head of the Union of Exporters of Antalya, Osman Bağdatlıoğlu, who went to Zaragoza in Spain to represent the Expo Organization Committee, announced that the Mediterranean city was the winner.
Bağdatlıoğlu said that Antalya lost the bid to host Expo 2014 to Zaragoza, but won the host status for 2016.
“It was an extremely tight race,” said Bağdatlıoğlu. “Antalya failed to win the host city status for Expo 2014, but the Turkish team has succeeded at what was seen as unattainable.”
He added that not only the city, but the country as a whole, will profit from the victory.
“That is not a project only for Antalya,” he added. “This is Turkey’s project.”
Antalya won the bid with its theme, “Children and Flowers,” and will host the Expo for six months in 2016.
Last year, the western city of İzmir campaigned for Expo 2015, but lost to Milan, Italy. Bağdatlıoğlu underlined that the two Turkish cities were not rivals, competing in different branches of the Expo.
“İzmir lost the bid for the industry sector of the Expo A1 category,” said Bağdatlıoğlu. “Antalya is going to host a bid in the same category, but of the botanic branch.”
Bağdatlıoğlu said that Antalya has been working seriously on the project, adding that efforts grew particularly intensive over the past three months.
“We worked really hard not to witness a repeat of what happened to İzmir,” said Bağdatlıoğlu. “There were serious efforts put forward by our committee and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Bağdatlıoğlu also acknowledged that about 100 countries participated in voting and that Antalya won the backing of “many countries from Malaysia to the Czech Republic.”
Bağdatlıoğlu added that the committee expects eight million tourists to visit Antalya during the six months of Expo 2016. Source : Hurriyet daily news
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