www.thepeninsulaqatar.com BUSINESSB | 13 SPORT | 21 Mideast carriers Mutaz Barshim see highest rise in eyes glory in passenger demand Games year FRIDAY 6 MAY 2016 • 29 Rajab 1437 • Volume 21 • Number 6788 thepeninsulaqatar @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatar Emir receives Qatar ‘could host phone call from Erdogan Summer Olympics’ QNA DOHA: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim AFP 50 degrees Celsius in the summer — Coe bin Hamad Al Thani received a said there were other considerations telephone call from Turkey’s Pres- The head of to take into account before awarding ident Recep Tayyip Erdogan. International a host, including commercial concerns They reviewed relations DOHA: The head of world athletics, and the quality of infrastructure. between the two countries, ways Turkish Prime Minister and Leader of the ruling Justice and Sebastian Coe, refused yesterday to Association of Last February, a senior official of of enhancing them and the lat- rule out a summer Olympics being Athletics Federations Qatar Olympics Committee (QOC) said Development Party (AKP) Ahmet Davutoglu addressing a press est developments in the region. held in Qatar. the country had a “vision and target” conference in Ankara yesterday. Meanwhile, Erdogan yes- Speaking at a press conference in refused to rule out of hosting a summer Olympics. terday met Minister of State for Doha, Coe said athletics aspired to being a summer Olympics QOC Secretary-General Dr Thani Al Defence Affairs H E Dr Khalid bin a global sport. “We have consistently being held in Qatar. Kuwari said Qatar would undoubtedly Mohamed Al Attiyah who was on turned up to conferences to talk about bid to host an Olympics and although it Davutoglu to step down as a visit to Turkey. globalisation and using sport to impact had ruled itself out for 2024, the coun- Dr Al Attiyah conveyed the and imprint on the lives of young people,” try could bid for the 2028 Games, said Emir’s greetings to the presi- the head of International Association Al Kuwari. “The vision and the target is Turkish PM and AKP chief dent and his wishes to him and of Athletics Federations said. what we have been, for the last 30 or 40 to host one of the Olympics, one day,” the Turkish people for further “And we have to make sure, where years, encouraging them to do.” he said. development. possible, giving those countries that Asked about concerns over Doha’s Qatar has previously bid unsuccess- Erdogan asked Dr Al Attiyah to want to stage these events to do exactly climate — where temperatures can reach fully for the 2016 and 2020 games but Reuters parliamentary election in less than convey his greetings to the Emir, remains undaunted. The country has 18 months. and his wishes to him of continued been chosen to host the World Athletics Davutoglu’s departure plunges the good health and happiness and Championships in 2019 and the foot- Nato member into political uncertainty the Qatari people more progress ball World Cup in 2022 and the 2023 ANKARA: Ahmet Davutoglu as Europe needs its help in curbing and prosperity. FINA world swimming championships. announced yesterday that he was a migration crisis and the US needs They discussed relations Since the beginning of 2015, Qatar has stepping down as leader of Turkey’s support in fighting Islamic State in between both countries and ways hosted a world handball championships ruling AK Party and prime minister, Syria and Iraq. His departure follows of enhancing them and exchanged and the paralympics athletics world bowing to President Recep Tayyip weeks of tensions with Erdogan. His views on issues of common inter- championships. Erdogan’s drive to create a power- successor is likely to be more willing est, especially in the military field The Khalifa International Stadium ful executive presidency. to back Erdogan’s aim of changing the in addition to the overall situa- in Doha will be the venue for the 2019 In a speech defending his record constitution to create a presidential tion on the Arab and international athletics championships. When Qatar but vowing loyalty to Erdogan, Davu- system, a move that opponents say arenas. was awarded football’s biggest tour- toglu said he had kept his party and the will bring growing authoritarianism. Dr Al Attiyah also held separate nament, it was initially meant to host government intact during a tumultu- Main opposition leader Kemal meetings with Turkish Defence it in the summer months. ous period and pledged that “strong” Kilicdaroglu condemned what he Minister Ismet Yilmaz and For- Despite pledges from Qatar that AKP government would continue. called a “palace coup” and rejected eign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. stadiums would be air-conditioned for After a leadership meeting of attempts by AKP officials to dismiss They discussed issues of players and spectators, football’s gov- the party founded and dominated it as an internal affair. mutual interest and ways of devel- erning body, FIFA, last year decided to by Erdogan, Davutoglu told reporters Mehmet Ali Kulat, Head of the oping them to serve the common switch the tournament to be played in that he would not run again for leader pollster Mak Danismanlik seen as interests of two countries. November-December 2022. at an extraordinary party congress on close to Erdogan, forecast an elec- The meetings were attended Coe was speaking ahead of the May 22. “I am telling our members, up tion in October or November. “From by Qatari Ambassador to Turkey Sebastian Coe (left), President, IAAF, and Dahlan Al Hamad, President, opening Diamond League meeting until today I was leading you. From now on, Turkey’s sole agenda is the Salem bin Mubarak Al Shafi and QAF, at a press conference at InterContinental Doha The City Hotel of the season, which takes place in now on, I am among you,” he said. presidential system and an early elec- the delegation accompanying Dr yesterday. Doha today. There could now be a third tion,” he said. Al Attiyah. 42% in Qatar read news online: Survey 48-hour ceasefire The Peninsula viewing dropped in Egypt by seven per- objectionable content, while majori- point drop from one year ago. Three- takes hold in Aleppo centage points, Saudi Arabia (16) and ties in the UAE, Lebanon and Tunisia quarters of Egyptian Internet users say Qatar (21), but television remains the believe it is the responsibility of the concerns about privacy have changed platform of choice in the Middle East individual to avoid such content. the way they use social media, second DOHA: There are more people in Qatar for watching films — 90 percent say The most evenly divided country is only to 89 percent of Saudis who agree. AFP The agreement follows an intense who get their news online than some they watch films on TV, while most in Saudi Arabia, where 50 percent believe While Internet penetration lev- diplomatic push by Moscow and countries in the Middle East, accord- the region now watch film and video responsibility lies with the government els are up in the region, Internet and Washington, co-sponsors of a Feb- ing to a six-nation survey conducted online and fewer than five percent have and 43 percent believe it lies with the smartphone penetration are signifi- ruary 27 ceasefire agreement that by Northwestern University in Qatar paid money to do so in the past year. individual. The biggest disparity is in cantly higher in the GCC than other ALEPPO: A 48-hour ceasefire took had begun to fall apart, to salvage (NU-Q) in partnership with Doha Film Amid concerns about online pri- Egypt, where 30 percent believe it is the countries included in the survey. hold yesterday in Syria’s battered sec- peace efforts. Institute (DFI). vacy, social media use in the Middle responsibility of the individual com- The UAE has the highest rate of ond city of Aleppo after President There were no signs of fresh air The study on media use in the Mid- East is shifting from Twitter and Face- pared to 66 percent who believe it is Internet penetration with most nation- Bashar Al Assad’s regime and rebel raids since the ceasefire took effect. dle East released on Wednesday, found book to direct-messaging platforms the responsibility of the government als saying they are being connected to forces gave in to mounting diplomatic As residents emerged, shopkeep- that more people are getting their news such as Snapchat and WhatsApp. The to block objectionable content. Use of the Internet this year. Closely follow- pressure. ers reopened their doors while fruit online than in print. study found video-centric Snapchat is Instagram in the region increased by ing are Qatar and Saudi Arabia, both Relieved residents returned to and vegetable markets, one of which Qatar leads in reading news online among the most popular platforms in 24 percentage points between 2013 at 93 percent Internet penetration, fol- the streets after two weeks of heavy was struck in an April 24 raid that daily (42 percent), followed by Saudi the high-bandwidth Gulf countries. and 2016 and Facebook’s popularity lowed by Lebanon (84 percent ). The fighting in the divided metropolis, left 12 dead, were up and running. Arabia (39 percent). Daily newspaper The region is divided on whose has declined in the past three years lowest levels of Internet penetration a key battleground in the five-year The Syrian Observatory for readership in Qatar is 32 percent and responsibility it is to block objection- by six percentage points. is recorded in Egypt and Tunisia at 59 civil war. Human Rights said there had been 25 percent in the UAE. able content. More nationals in Egypt, Twitter shows the biggest decline percent and 49 percent, respectively.