Cuban-born player Melissa Vargas, who played a leading role in the National Women’s Volleyball Team’s European and Nations League championships, was given a certificate of honor in Malatya.
Vargas, who came to the city with Turkish Volleyball Federation President Mehmet Akif Üstündağ, visited Malatya Metropolitan Municipality. Metropolitan Mayor Selahattin Gürkan said that he was honored to host Vargas in Malatya.
Thanking Vargas and other players for the pride they brought to the country, in the person of Üstündağ, Gürkan said:
“Melissa Vargas expresses that she is very honored to be from Malatya. She is really working hard to represent our nation and our city, both with the 44 Malatya plate jersey she wears in the matches and with her performance in sports events. After becoming a Turkish citizen, our President invited them to Turkey. After completing her education and giving her citizenship ID card, she took the name Melissa. Melissa is the first name of Malatya. Melita, Melidu, Melidya and Melissa are the main names of Malatya. The meaning of the name is honey, sugar, sweet, beautiful. This is the meaning of Melissa. Therefore, indeed He was not content with being from Malatya, he also stated that he was truly Malatya by taking the first name of Malatya in history.
The fact that he experienced the feeling of being a Malatyalı and playing on the field with the number 44 jersey always made the people of Malatya happy. In this sense, we would like to express our gratitude to Melissa, her teammates, and our federation president. I would like to state that I am very honored to see them among the citizens of Malatya. The people of your hometown are proud of you. Hopefully, they will perform the folk song ‘Malatya, Malatya, you are unique’ at the highest level in the Olympics.”
After the speech, Vargas was given a “Certificate of Honor” by President Gürkan and an apricot was presented. President of the Turkish Volleyball Federation Üstündağ presented the federation’s plaque and Vargas’ signed jersey to Gürkan.
In his speech, Üstündağ said that he was happy to be in Malatya today. Stating that his hometown Malatya was severely damaged in the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, Üstündağ wished God’s mercy to those who lost their lives and a speedy recovery to the injured.
“Türkiye IS NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD IN VOLLEYBALL”
Reminding that he was born and raised in Malatya, Üstündağ continued as follows:
“My father’s house is still in Orduzu. There was an earthquake, but I did not leave this country, and I will not, because whatever I have earned, I have earned because I am a child of this country. This country has given me a lot. Above all, working hard, doing good things, honesty, transparency, He taught us kindness, being loyal to our country, nation, country, flag and anthem.
I am currently the president of Turkish volleyball. No country in the world has achieved the success that Turkish volleyball has received this year. He won 3 championships in one season and is also the number one in the world with the points he received in these championships. Türkiye is the world’s number one in volleyball. It didn’t stop there. He won the European Championship for the first time in his history. I am proud of this team and finally, Turkey was the only country that qualified for the Olympics undefeated among the 24 teams. Therefore, he gained the right to directly participate in the Olympics and won the World Cup, which was implemented for the first time.”
“VARGAS IS THE NUMBER ONE PLAYER IN THE WORLD CURRENTLY”
Stating that Vargas is from Malatya, Üstündağ said:
“Vargas is our child, we embraced him. We fought hard to make Vargas Turkish. He became a Turkish citizen. ‘Where are you from?’ In the incident, he said ‘I’m from Malatya’. We were proud that he was from Malatya. Today, Vargas was selected as the ‘most valuable player’ (MVP) in the Nations League, the European Championship and the last Olympic qualifier. In other words, he is now the number one player in the world. The number one player in the world is from Malatya. It was a special pride to be there. Just as I am proud of my land, my country, my hometown, I believe Vargas embraced it as much. He is both proud of his hometown and stated that he is happy to come here. I would like to thank him in your presence, but we are missing an Olympic championship here. “We have a long way to go, but we are at the beginning of the road. We believe that this country will achieve success in the Olympics, which has never been achieved before in its history. Volleyball in the team sport guaranteed going to the Olympics. I hope we can talk about the color of the medal there, too. Will it be three, will it be two, will it be gold?” If this team collects all the gold in three tournaments in a year, it will also win the Olympics. We are also identified with the song ‘Malatya Malatya’. “We will continue to be proud of our Malatya identity everywhere and as the children of a city that is the pride of this country.”
Melissa Vargas, who started her speech by saying “Hello Malatya”, said, “I am very happy to be here. Thank you all for the happiness you have given me and for welcoming me so warmly. I hope that Malatya, our beautiful city, will quickly regain its former beauty and heal its wounds.” “We are all a family, we are all together and we are here together for Malatya.” she said.