Youth and Sports Minister Suat Kilic says "we now wish for a friendly competition between the candidate cities abiding by the criteria established by the IOC."
Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose apologized yesterday after he was quoted in The New York Times as suggesting Istanbul was less developed and less equipped to host the games than the Japanese capital. Madrid is also bidding for the games.
Inose was also quoted as saying "the only thing (Muslim countries) share in common is Allah and they are fighting with each other, and they have classes."