The head of the Turkish Taekwondo Federation on Tuesday hailed Turkey's victorious performances in the European championships. The national team "once again made history" by coming in first at the 2017 European Poomsae Taekwondo Championship on May 7-8 in Rhodes, Greece, bringing home 18 gold medals along with five silvers and seven bronzes.

"Turkish Teakwondo is always working on every level to represent our country in the best way and we will continue to make our country proud with the successes we achieve in the future," Metin Şahin said.

He added: "I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our success, especially our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Sports and Youth Minister Akif Çağatay Kılıç for their support, and also the ministry officials." Turkey was represented at the 13th annual tournament by 31 female athletes and 30 men. Turkey also came in first at the 12th European Poomsae Taekwondo Championship held in Serbia.