Turkey, ranked among the world's 20 most populous countries, only made its debut in the Paralympics at Atlanta in 1996 and has never competed in the Winter Games.

Kocaömer said: "We cannot send competitors to the [Winter] Paralympics.

"We have no athletes.

"Turkey has failed to train [able-bodied] competitors for winter sports, so how can we send athletes to the Paralympic Games?"

The comments of the 61-year-old distinguished newspaper columnist, who has been involved in disability sport since 1998, failed to mask his frustration at the lack of opportunities for Paralympic athletes in Turkey.

Kocaömer said: "People in Turkey do not believe that disabled people can be sportsmen."

Turkey has won four Paralympic medals since its debut in Atlanta, including two at the last Games in Beijing, one of which was a gold from archer Gizem Girişmen in the individual recurve W1/W2.

Kocaömer said: "Successes attained by disabled people are the result of individual efforts, not the consequences of systematic training provided by the state.

"The federations that have been established to provide and build sporting opportunities for handicapped people have financial problems.

"The Galatasaray wheelchair basketball team has become the world champion and has four foreign players, but the federations don’t have enough money to transfer foreign players.

"They cannot even find sponsorship."