92 foreign athletes now Turkish citizens

ANKARA

Turkey’s Tarik Langat Akdağ competes during the men’s 3000 meters.

Turkey naturalized 92 foreign sportspersons through 2006-2013, Interior Minister Muammer Güler has announced in response to a motion submitted by an opposition deputy.

There are four other foreign sportspersons who have applied for citizenship of the Republic of Turkey as of May, 2013, and procedures regarding these persons are still underway, Güler also said in his response to Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Özcan Yeniçeri, the Anadolu Agency reported on Aug. 26.

Those 92 persons were from Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Britain, Bulgaria, Cameroon, China, Croatia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Germany, Guinea, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Sweden, Ukraine, the United States and Uzbekistan, Anadolu said.

According to data compiled last year by Britain’s Channel 4 News, based on the International Association of Athletics Federations’ figures, Turkey has been among popular destinations which gain athletes from other countries. Other such popular countries were listed as Belgium, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Spain and Switzerland,

In addition to the United States, France and Britain which are represented in the top five countries of origin for nationality switches and destinations.