The president of the Azerbaijan National Karate Federation (ANKF) and a member of the Technical Committee of the World Karate Federation (WKF) Yashar Bashirov has been elected as a member of the Executive Committee of the European Karate Federation for a 4-year period with a large majority of votes. At the regular congress of the EKF, held in Kocaeli, Turkey, also the leaders of the karate federations from 9 prestigious countries were elected to the Executive Committee by voting. Y. Bashirov said in a broad opening speech that thanks to the attention and care of the Head of the National Olympic Committee, President Ilham Aliyev, karate along with other sports is developing rapidly and Azerbaijan has become one of the most prestigious countries in the karate. He thanked the leadership of the Federation for the honor - election to the EC and added that he would do his best to develop karate in Europe.
In accordance with other voting items, Antonio Espinos was re-elected as a president of the EKF for a further 6-year term. In his speech, he noted that 1st European Games, held in Baku in 2015 played a big role of including karate in the Olympic family.
According to the agenda of the Congress, the issues planned and resolved since the last meeting of the organization were discussed, the reports of the EKF committees were heard. At the end of the official meeting, a presentation of the upcoming important competitions was made. It was also mentioned that 55th European Youth Championship among Adults in 2020 will be held in Baku.
In the end, Yashar Bashirov presented memorable jubilee medals dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the entry of the NFCA to the WKF, including a calendar made up of photographs reflecting the activities of the Federation, to European colleagues and officials of the EKF.
Sanan Magerramov, Secretary for Media and Public Affairs, Kocaeli, Turkey.
