Paralympic Turkish swimmer Beytullah Eroğlu become the world champion in the World Swimming Championship in Mexico City on Monday.
Eroğlu became the first athlete to bring Turkey its first gold medal with his victory in the men's 50 meters butterfly final.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Istanbul Mayor Mevlüt Uysal called Eroğlu to congratulate the 22-year-old athlete.
Born in Kahramanmaraş, a southeastern province of Turkey, without arms and one leg shorter than the other, Beytullah led a secluded life as a child, a world open only to close relatives.
Now the young man is determined to keep competing at various international swimming games and win medals.
In 2012, he came in seventh place in the London Paralympic Games and in 2013 he narrowly missed out on a bronze medal at the World Championships in Montreal, Canada.
