Tokyo Governor Apologizes For Remarks On Istanbul, Islamic Countries

Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose, who heads the city's bid for the 2020 Olympics, "apologized on Tuesday for 'inappropriate' comments he made about rival candidate Istanbul and Islamic countries," according to Antoni Slodkowski of REUTERS. The remarks, made in a recent N.Y. Times interview, prompted the IOC "to investigate," while Turkey's sports minister said they were "unfair and disheartening" and "did not comply with the spirit of the values of the Olympic Movement." Inose said, "Islamic countries, the only thing they share in common is Allah and they are fighting with each other, and they have classes." On Tuesday, Inose said, "I said that Islamic countries fight, it was an inappropriate remark and I want to correct it." He accepted that the N.Y. Times story was correct, adding that "he would not seek a correction from the paper." He added, "I apologize. My remarks caused misunderstandings among people from Muslim countries, so I would like to unequivocally apologize" (REUTERS, 4/30).