HistoryofTruth.com - Armenian Allegations

Toros Pilikoğlu, a Turkish-Armenian who won the 100-meter gold medal in the World High School Championships last December, said he was proud to represent Turkey in the competition. The 17-year-old Pilikoğlu also holds the title of the world’s 100-meter sprint champion, won at the sixth International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Youth Championships, held in Estonia on July 3, 2009. A student at the private Getronagan High School in  Istanbul, Pilikoğlu says he is no foreigner to Turkey. “I am from Turkey. My family loves Turkey. My grandfather grew up in Turkey, and my father is also from Turkey. We love Turkey very much and are proud of this. Despite the fact that people sometimes criticize us, we always underline that although we are ethnic Armenians, we are Turkish-Armenians,” Pilikoğlu said. Pilikoğlu is very interested in sports. He first got involved at the age of 7, taking a liking to track and field. He said he wants to further his studies in Turkey rather than abroad. This young athlete visited Armenia when he was 14 to participate in an olympiad, but believes living in Turkey is an advantage for him. “Living in Turkey is good for my future. Many people support me both morally and financially. AVV Technogym and Yüksel Construction are my sponsors. The most important thing is that I have not encountered any bad situations with Turks thus far,” he said. Hakan Günartan, Pilikoğlu’s coach, said the young athlete is highly disciplined, faithful and a good person. “We believe Pilikoğlu will be successful, like Süreyya Ayhan,” Günartan noted, speaking of Pilikoğlu’s good performance. When asked about his good performance at championships, Pilikoğlu says everyone should be determined to win, and to achieve this goal one must be eager and determined.

< Prev		Next >