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Azerbaijan is actively prepared for the First European Olympic Ga-mes to be held in Baku in 2015. The first session of the Coordination Committee for the games was held to determine the priority plans. 

The chairperson of the organizing committee and first lady of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva, said that "we regard as the recognition of successes achieved by our country in recent years in various fields, including sports," the decision of the European Olympic Committee to conduct the first games in Baku. 

"Our country plays a leading role in the history of the European Olympic family. We realize the responsibility that befalls us. This in turn requires from us guarantees that the first experience is successful. On our behalf we can assure you that Azerbaijan is ready to do everything possible to attain this goal. In this connection we are ready to benefit from the experience the organizers gained from Olympic and regional games in previous years," Aliyeva said at the session of the Coordination Committee. 

She pointed out that the level of preparation of the necessary infrastructure, including the Olympic village, information transfer, strategy of work with the mass media who will cover the preparation and conduct of the games, endorsement and completion of the sports programme require special attention.

Aliyeva noted that the European Games will be the first such experience for Azerbaijan and hoped that they will go down in the history of the Olympic family as a great success. 

The president of the European Olympic Committee, Patrick Hickey, said that Aliyeva's presidency of the European Organising Committee of the Olympic Games forms a favourable basis for their organization at the appropriate level. Foreign experts made presentations concerning ceremonies and cultural programmes, media strategy, broadcasts, construction plans and so forth.   

The initial list of sports that will be presented in 2015 at the I European Olympic Games in Baku has already been clarified, as was their date. At the games, which will take place on 12-28 June, athletes will compete in 19 sports. 

According to the chairman of the Coordination Commission, Spyros Kapralos, this is not a definitive list. Negotiations to clarify the list are in the final stage. 

Almost all events will be held in Baku, only the tournament in canoeing will take place outside the capital - in the Kura training sports centre in Mingacevir. International experts al-ready studied this water arena and agreed to the holding of such a representative tournament. 

In a number of sports the competitions will require license. The European qualifying competition games will be determined later. If a country does not have athletes that passed through a qualifying tournament, they will be presented with discount permits for four athletes - two men and two women. According to regulations, the state hosting the Games, has the right to be represented in all sports.

Speaking about the first meeting of the Coordination Committee of European games, Youth and Sports Minister Azad Rahimov spoke about the formation of the national teams of Azerbaijan: "Azerbaijan is already formin teams in all sports. There are only a few points left related to the triathlon. We already have other sports teams. In particular, members of the national archery improved their performance in the final competition. Basketball is well-developed in Azerbaijan, our athletes are involved in the top division in Europe. We have high hopes for this sport, because at the European Olympic Games it will be presented in the format of three by three, which gives us hope for the result. There has been a rapid development of cycling, we hold a competition "Tour de Azerbaijan". Our team in table tennis is not very strong and we need to pay more attention to this sport. We would like to achieve results in some types of athletics."

He said that the venue for the Olympic village has already been decided - the athletes will be placed in new buildings constructed not far from the Koroglu metro station.

In an interview with R+, President of the European Olympic Committee Patrick Hickey said he was confident that Azerbaijan will hold the games at a high level: "I am very happy that the Azerbaijani president also leads the National Olympic Committee. His role in developing sports in Azerbaijan is great. The chairperson of the Organizing Committee, Mehriban Aliyeva, also directs the Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation of Azerbaijan, i.e. is a sports figure. Under their leadership we will do our utmost to conduct the games at a high level".

Hickey also said that following the European Games, Baku's chances for hosting the summer Olympics will increase as well. In essence, six or seven years are necessary to organize such a prestigious competition. He expressed his certainty that Baku will manage to prepare for them in two years.