One of Turkey’s best known professional cyclists has joined a homegrown Turkish team after quitting his Israeli outfit due to the controversy generated by the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reports say.
Ahmet Orken, who will now cycle for Salcano Sakarya Buyuksehir in the Turkish Black Sea region of Sakarya, cited pressures on his family following the Jerusalem recognition as the reason for his departure.
Turkey, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has strongly opposed Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, calling a summit of Islamic countries that declared East Jerusalem the Palestinian capital.
“It was a difficult period in the last two weeks,” Orken says, quoted by the Dogan news agency, as he signed the contract in Sakarya.
“I took the decision so as not to worry about my country and my family. This is a decision that I have taken myself,” says the multiple Turkish time trial champion.
Israel Cycling Academy, the Pro Continental team with whom Orken had signed a two-year agreement in September, says it had agreed to release Orken from his contract.
— AFP
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