Turkey would be ready to replace Bahrain in 2012
As the political situation remains extremely tense in Bahrain, Turkey would be ready in case the Kingdom is forced to cancel its event once again.
According to the latest version of the 2012 calendar, Formula One is expected to return to Bahrain on April 22. In a previous version, the Bahraini Grand Prix had been placed at the end of the season to allow the small Gulf kingdom to regain calm.
Indeed, the 2011 edition was postponed and then entirely canceled following the popular unrest that has shaken the country since February, constituting one of the episodes of what is now referred to as the Arab Spring. Yet, the situation is still far from being pacified in the country where the population was invited to go to the polls this weekend to replace the 18 seats left vacant by the deputies of Al-Wefaq, the main opposition party to the regime. Boycotted by the said opposition and the Shiite majority — as power is in the hands of the Sunnis — the election was also the scene of new clashes, violently suppressed, while 83% of the population abstained.
Bernie Ecclestone, in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, says he was reassured on the matter by Bahrain: “They assured me that the situation would be resolved when we return there next year.”
It would seem, however, according to the Swiss newspaper Blick, that Turkey, ousted at the last minute from the 2012 calendar, is ready to step in and replace Bahrain if necessary.
