PM Erdoğan meets Olympic medalists

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Olympic medal winning taekwondo fighters Servet Tazegül (2L) and Nur Tatar (2R) present Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (C) with a black belt. AA photo

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Turkey’s London Olympic Games medalists yesterday.

Erdoğan welcomed runners Aslı Çakır Alptekin, Gamze Bulut, taekwondo fighters Servet Tazegül, Nur Tatar and wrestler Rıza Kayaalp in his office in Ankara to congratulate the athletes for their achievements.

Çakır Alptekin won the women’s 1500m final to claim a historic gold medal, while Bulut came second in the same event to win silver. Tazegül won the men’s 68kg taekwondo gold medal and Tatar claimed a silver medal in women’s 67kg taekwondo. Kayaalp won a bronze medal in men’s 120kg Greco-Roman wrestling.
Erdoğan gave the athletes cellphones as gifts, but said a bigger bonus would be presented later, Anatolia news agency reported.

The five athletes will get a total bonus worth more than five million Turkish Liras.

Çakır Alptekin and Tazegül will receive gold coins worth 1.274 million liras, according to Turkey’s regulation on awarding athletes who perform well in international competitions. Silver medalists Bulut and Tatar will receive golden coins worth around 955,500 liras with bronze medalist Kayaalp will receive a bonus worth 637,000 liras.

With two gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal Turkey finished the 2012 Olympic Games ranked 32 on the medal table.