Islamic Solidarity Games kick off in Baku

The 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games were declared open in a spectacular ceremony at the Baku Olympic Stadium here on Friday night.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony along with the country's First Lady and the First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva and other distinguished guests.

More than 3,000 athletes from 54 countries of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation will be competing in 21 sports at the Games which run through May 22.

Unlike previous Islamic Solidarity Games, the Baku 2017 will feature wrestling, judo, boxing, shooting, blind-judo, para-athletics, rhythmic and artistic gymnastics competitions. Team sports include water polo, volleyball, handball and football competitions.

Azerbaijan is represented by 325 athletes, Turkey has sent the largest team of 345 athletes, the third is Iran with 300 athletes.

A stunning opening ceremony depicted the rich and complex history and culture of Azerbaijan and the whole Islamic world. Fireworks and laser-lit dancers provided a fascinating start of the ceremony before all 54 participating delegations were represented during the longest stretch of the show, with athletes waving national flags and cheering to the crowd as they were introduced one by one.

President Ilham Aliyev declared the Games open and the ceremony continued with scenes depicting Azerbaijan's history and achievements of the whole Islamic world in various fields accompanied by the music of great Azerbaijani composers.

The ceremony has involved 2,200 volunteer performers joined on stage by more than 40 animals - horses, camels and donkeys.

The Islamic Solidarity Games were first held in the Saudi city of Jeddah in 2005.

Azerbaijan hosted a number of major events in the past few years, including the 2015 European Games and the World Chess Olympiad. Endit