Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday received Türkiye’s men’s and women’s national teams at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, after both won silver medals at major international tournaments.

On Sunday, the Turkish men’s national basketball team, also known as the “12 Giant Men” (12 Dev Adam in Turkish), finished runners-up at EuroBasket 2025 in Riga in a thrilling contest against Germany in the final, their first European final in 24 years and only their second ever silver.

“I once again congratulate our athletes who put up an extraordinary fight. We are a little saddened that we couldn’t quite reach the trophy, but the fact remains that we have gained remarkable momentum in basketball,” Erdogan said on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

The Turkish president added that he believed that Türkiye would prove to be the strongest team at the forthcoming 2027 Basketball World Cup in Qatar.

The women’s volleyball team, dubbed the “Sultans of the Net” (Filenin Sultanlari in Turkish), also made a historic win by taking silver at the FIVB World Championship in Bangkok earlier this month, another achievement praised by President Erdogan.

"I sincerely congratulate our National Women's Volleyball Team, who made our country proud by securing second place at the FIVB Women's World Championship held in Thailand," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on social media at the time.

Starting from a modest base of just over a quarter of a million athletes in 2002, Türkiye now boasts millions of participants and increasing medal tallies.

Two decades of investment have cultivated champions and transformed the nation’s view of sport.