Latvia recalls its participation in European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Turkey due to security reasons

  • 2017-01-28
  • BNS/TBT Staff

RIGA - Considering the emergency situation and unstable security situation in Turkey, the executive committee of the Latvian Olympic Committee (LOK) has decided to recall Latvia's participation in the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, LOK spokesman Martins Malmeisters reported.

The European Youth Olympic Winter Festival will be held in Turkey's city of Erzurum on February 11-18.

The European Olympic Committees (EOC) Executive Board on Thursday decided not to cancel the planned event in Erzurum despite the recent terrorist attacks in Turkey. A lot of countries have already announced on their full or partial withdrawal from the festival.

The Latvian Foreign Ministry has said in its warning that the necessity to travel to Turkey has to be carefully revised. After the attempted coup last July, there is still an emergency situation in force in Turkey. Also, there is high terrorism threat level in this country.

LOK surveyed parents of the young athletes included in the team and asked for an opinion of sports federations. Even though opinions differed, the majority supported withdrawal from the event.

The Latvian team for the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival included more than 50 young athletes in nine disciplines - figure skating, short track, trampolining, cross-country and downhill skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, curling, and hockey.

According to Latvian Ambassador to Turkey Peteris Karlis Elferts, other countries who decided not to participate in the event include Hungary, Austria, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, Andorra. At the same time, Norway, Germany, the UK, the Czech Republic and Finland decided on partial participation in the festival.