Of Course Turkey Should Be Eligible to Host the 2020 Olympics: Or, Why Michael Rubin Isn’t on the IOC
Michael Rubin, a scholar at the neoconservative think tank, AEI, recently argued in a blog post for (equally neo-conservative) Commentary that Turkey should not host the 2020 Olympic games. Why? Well, for a slew of very bad reasons.
First, Rubin expresses utter disbelief that a country with a population consisting of 99.8% Muslims should want to have a silhouette of a minaret or two incorporated in its Olympic logo. He notes – with an elevated heart rate no doubt – that no other Olympic logo in history has featured such religious imagery. “The Istanbul 2020 logo features not the bridge between civilizations, but rather minarets and mosques,” he bemoans. Here’s the logo to which he links:
There’s a small problem, though. That’s not the Istanbul 2020 logo. Here’s the real one:
Still very menacing, though, right? It was chosen by the Turkish public in an online contest among four other logos. Here they all are:
So, in a very democratic process, Turkey chose the one logo that featured Islamic imagery. For what it’s worth, that main tower featured in the chosen logo isn’t a minaret atop a mosque, but Maiden’s Tower. Even if it was a minaret, though, why does it matter? Also, despite Rubin’s assertion to the contrary, the (real) logo does represent a bridge between civilizations. Straight from the official website (my emphasis):
Two of the symbols that come to our minds when we think of Istanbul are tulip and the silhouette of Istanbul. Our aim was to create a strong bond between Istanbul of our thoughts and the logo, as we designed Istanbul silhouette within the tulip figure. The bottom part of the tulip figure represents Asia, while the top part represents Europe. Within the logo we used orange color which reflects sunset in Istanbul and Turquoise color which is identified with Turkish culture. The ground-colors stress out the modernity of Istanbul and vibrant face, with its historical, natural and cultural features.
The other myriad of reasons as to why Rubin believes Turkey shouldn’t host the games amounts to a confusion of what the criteria are for a successful bid. If you’re in need of a soporific, here’s the International Olympic Committee’s “2020 Candidature Acceptance Procedure.” The IOC wants to know about “sport and venues,” “safety and security,” “accommodation,” “government and public support,” and a host of other Olympics-related elements that are key to hosting a successful games. With countries like China (2008) and Russia (2014) serving as Olympic hosts, one wonders where Rubin ever got the idea that a country must be a human rights exemplar or without infrastructure problems to be eligible.
Michael Rubin is right on one count, though. Even if a Muslim-majority country hasn’t ever won the bid to host the Olympics, that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s something unfair about the IOC’s nominations process, as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insinuated recently. What is unfair is to hold Istanbul to a higher standard than is warranted by the IOC’s own guidelines.
beijing 2000 logo was the sky temple…. so the only religious logo was beijings…. check it out Rubin. and its the main silhuette of ıstanbul from the ceremonies will held in asian side u can see it from here as its the same as the logo..
http://www.travelshopturkey.com/luxury_istanbul_city_tours/istanbul_city_tours/luxury_istanbul_city_tours.jpg
Great picture; that does look like the exact silhouette featured in the logo.
altough 4 of those minarets are haigia Sophias minarets once the holy church then mosque now museum, so symbolic not only islamic but nearly the whole history of humanity
i dont like Rubins kind of people… never understand whats important and whats the spirit… Istanbul was the center of Pagan world, then western Christianity, the Muslim world… connecting 2 continents, middle of 3 continents, between 2 seas, meeting of 3 major religions and more than 5 cultures.. and its for centuries not like london or NYC just for 50 years.
Hope Istanbul will get the games, the olympic circles rises from the cold waters of bosphorus, whole churches and synagogs bells ringing at the same time lighting between minarets of mosques lighten up in tht moment, olympic flame rises in the center of 2 continents and welcoming whole world with mevlana rumis words… ” come , who ever u r come again”…
thts what we call turkish hospitality ;)
Well, I can tell you’re definitely thrilled at the prospect of the games being in Istanbul. And you’re right to point out that the Hagia Sophia can be seen as yet another symbolic representation of the bridge between civilizations that Rubin thinks is lacking in Turkey’s bid. He’d probably argue, though, that it’s an example of Islamic imperialism, given the fact that it was converted into a mosque only after Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans. Probably not how 99.8% of Turkey sees it, I’m guessing!
what is the worst thing ever happened in Istanbuls history is not by muslims or jews but by christians. with the 4th crusade the city invaded whole holly sites broken, or stolen ( mostly u can see in venice like quadriga) people killed, greek forbiden haiga sophia and te seat of the church make dirty with whores… now complaining about haiga sophia is a mosque or church meaningless cause we give it to all humanity as a museum now. allah scripts next to santa maria and jesus mosaics and no where u can see them in tht harmony.