Turkey - Turkey ‘plays’ host to FIBA World Championship, summer 2010

From www.travelvideo.tv
Download source here

Cementing its reputation in the world of sports, Turkey will host FIBA’s World Championship basketball tournament, between August 28 and September 12, 2010. The world’s largest and most prestigious basketball tournament brings together 24 teams from five continents in Turkey, one of the fastest-growing tourism destinations in the world.

Turkey is proud and excited to have been chosen to host this quadrennial event, which is returning to Europe for the first time in 12 years. In order to determine the world’s best basketball nation, 80 basketball games will be played at stadiums throughout key tourist cities in Turkey including Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, and Kayseri.

With the goal of achieving an unprecedented level of excellence in the organization of the FIBA World Championship and working towards the ultimate dream of hosting the Olympic Games, Turkey’s Local Organizing Committee has been making preparations throughout the country. Renovations have been made on Ankara’s Ankara Cok Maksatli Stadium; Istanbul’s Abdi Ipekci Arena; Izmir’s Halkapinar Arena; and Kayseri’s Kayseri Arena; and an entirely new stadium, the Sinan Erdem Dom, has been built in Turkey’s capital city, Istanbul.

Turkey is a modern nation with a captivating blend of antiquity and contemporary and of East and West. The cradle of civilization and center of world history today stands as one of the fastest-growing tourism destinations in the world. Turkey was the site of the first human settlement; the seat of the Byzantine, Roman and Ottoman Empires; the birthplace of Homer and the last home of the Virgin Mary, just to name a few. Today Turkey, with its spectacular coastline, majestic mountains, cosmopolitan cities and quaint villages is one of the world’s most fascinating destinations.