National boxers, who won 10 medals at the 2026 European Boxing Championship held in Bulgaria, came to Istanbul.
Athletes arriving at Sabiha Gökçen Airport International Terminal were welcomed with flowers.
In the championship, which was held for both men and women for the first time, Turkey won a total of 10 medals, including 4 gold, 1 silver and 5 bronze, making it the most successful championship in its history in this category. Nationals ranked second in Europe after Russia in the general rankings for women and men.
Busenaz Sürmeneli, one of the boxers who won the gold medal, said, "We are happy and proud. We arrived in our country safe and sound. We did our best. The tournament went well for us. We are the European champions as a team, I can say this with pride. We showed very good performances. Let this be an indicator of 2028. Everything is going well. We will continue to work. Do not lose your faith in us and let's continue on the road. I want to thank my team very much. No matter who wins from our team, we would have the same happiness. We tried new things, it worked. When the second round was over, I turned to the coach and said, 'Yes, we are a coach.' This team will achieve good things. Even though we have some misfortunes and shortcomings, we are achieving good things. Hopefully, we will achieve good results in the World Championship and the European Games and welcome us in a larger crowd. he said.
Another athlete, Hatice Akbaş, who returned to the country with a gold medal, stated that they achieved their goal and said, "We will rest a little and enjoy it. After that, we will continue the preparations. Our goal is the Olympics. We want to show the same performance in Los Angeles. We are also on the podium as a team. We are very proud. We have achieved a great success as Fenerbahçe Club. Thank you very much to everyone who contributed. We have been working together for years, and we still continue to work. Our goal is to complete the unfinished story in Paris. Hopefully, by taking the gold in Los Angeles. We aim to complete it." he said.
Emrah Yaşar, who became the European champion in the men's 90 kg category by beating Spanish Enmanuel Reyes Pla 5-0, said that he was happy to win the gold medal in his first championship in the senior category.
"It's a great pride. It can't be explained in words. I'm very happy, very proud." The national athlete said:
"It was my first European championship in the seniors. We were awarded the championship here. We came second as a team. We won 2 bronze, 1 gold and three medals in the men's category. This is a great feeling. We have been working for about a year since January. We trained well, put in good efforts. Thank God, we got the reward, we became champions. It was the last tournament of the year. We closed it well. There is a World Championship in 2027. We want the championship there too."
Explaining that they prepared in a difficult process, Emrah Yaşar said, "You fight for an average of 9 minutes, 3 rounds, 3 minutes each. You fight for 9 minutes, this is the easy part. But behind this, as I said, we have been working for about a year since January. Blood is shed, sweat is shed, tears are shed in training. You stay hungry for days, lose weight, suffer. You are away from your family, we are always in the camp. Fighting is really the easiest part of the job." made his assessment.
Büşra Işıldar, who came second in Europe in the women's 75 kilo category, emphasized that the national team competed very well.
Büşra, who won the silver medal, said:
"Last time, I won the silver medal at the World Championship in Liverpool. I met the same opponent again in the final. We worked hard for this process. Domestic and international camps, our biggest goal is of course to get the gold medal in Los Angeles and we have a World Championship right away. We work hard for that. We work for months, maybe years for 9 minutes. I hope this will end well. Our team is very good, everything is very good. We are doing our best for the gold medal."
Brothers Samet and Semih Gümüş, who competed in the championship, stated that they did not want to settle for third place.
National boxer Samet Gümüş, who won the bronze medal in the 50 kilo category in the organization, said, "This is our first European championship with my brother. We have both achieved great success, but this is a start for us. Third place is not enough for us. We have the World Championship ahead of us. We want to represent our country in the best possible way." he said.
Semih Gümüş, who won the bronze medal in 55 kilos, said, "I am very happy. We went through a very intense process. We had a difficult, intense process in the camps. We were with my brother. We had a good camp, we prepared well. We came third here, too. First of all, I am very happy for myself and my brother. We did it together. This is our first European championship, we finished third. It was a tough tournament, we had good fights. After this, there are World Championships, there are many matches. Our only goal is to become champions as a team." he said.
National athlete Gizem Özer, who won the bronze medal in the championship, said the following:
"I came second and third in Europe under the age of 22. This is my first European medal in the senior category. That's why I am very happy and proud. We had already worked very well before this, prepared very well and became champions as a team. Thank God, I would like to thank everyone who contributed."
Nurselen Yalgettekin, who won the bronze medal in the women's 48 kilo category at the European Championship, also made the following evaluation:
"I'm sorry for my voice. My voice got hoarse from yelling at my Buse sisters. This was my first tournament in the Senior European Championship. I started with bronze. I hope it will end in gold, as our minister Hamza said. It may not happen next time, it may not happen again, but eventually we will get gold. We will continue to work. Next year is the World Championship. We have been working there for a year since November. I would like to thank my coaches, my friends, our federation president, our minister and our President."
Esra Yıldız Kahraman, who won the bronze medal, explained that she narrowly won her match and said, "My match was 3-2, it was a close call. Our goal is to win a gold medal in the Olympics. I hope we will be able to return to our country happily from every tournament. I am very happy for myself. I would like to thank everyone who contributed." he said.
