CHP's Bulut takes Olympic 'failure' to Parliament: 'The Minister of Sports must be held accountable'

Turkey finished the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with 3 silver and 5 bronze medals. For the first time since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, national athletes completed a Summer Olympics without winning a gold medal.

Turkey thus ranked 64th among 84 countries in the overall standings.

CHP Deputy Chairman Burhanettin Bulut has requested a parliamentary inquiry to be opened in order to "determine the effects of politicization in sports on failure." 

CHP Deputy Chairman Burhanettin Bulut stated that Turkey experienced a major disappointment at the Olympic Games held in Paris, the capital of France, returning without a gold medal 40 years after the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and requested a parliamentary inquiry to determine the effects of politicization in sports on this failure.

CRITICISM OF STAFFING

Bulut pointed out that Turkey, which participated in the Olympic Games with 101 athletes and competed in 18 branches, could only rank 64th among 84 countries by winning 8 medals, consisting of only 3 silver and 5 bronze. Bulut stated the following:

“During the 22 years of AKP governments, the politicization of sports, appointments made without merit based on a 'one of us' mentality, the lack of democratic federation elections, the termination of the autonomy of federations, political interventions in federation elections, and the dominance of a political mindset in sports have paved the way for a major collapse. The presence of staff who lack sufficient knowledge and experience in the sports organization, in many of the federations, and among coaches and technical teams is among the important reasons for the failure.

'THE MINISTER OF SPORTS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE'

The other primary culprit for the failure at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Minister of Youth and Sports Osman Aşkın Bak passing the buck to the federations by saying, 'Federations that cannot use the resources provided correctly will be held accountable,' is an attempt to cover up his own failure and avoid responsibility. Despite the massive budgets spent, the Minister of Youth and Sports Osman Aşkın Bak must be the first to be held accountable for these unsuccessful results.

While even the island nation of Saint Lucia, with a population of 180 thousand, ranked 34th in the Olympics, our country, with its young and dynamic population and the potential it holds, does not deserve this poor result. Despite having a large young population in our country of 85 million, the politicization of sports is also a great injustice to our athletes who represent our country with heart and soul and success in the Olympic Games, proudly carrying the crescent and star on their chests, and to our competent technical staff.

EMPHASIS ON AUTONOMY FOR FEDERATIONS

During the 22-year AKP rule, our country has won only 8 gold medals in the Olympics. For Turkey to be successful in sports, it is essential to undergo a new restructuring and for sports to be purified from politics and lack of merit. The Turkish Olympic Preparation Centers, which were implemented in 2013, should be made efficient, federations should be granted autonomy, sports education in schools should be refocused on, and Olympic and sports awareness should be instilled.”