The defection of Soviet bantamweight world champion Hafiz Suleimanov to Turkey overshadowed Soviet middleweight Alty Orazdurdiev's victory at the World Weightlifting Championships.
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A spokeman at the Turkish Foreign Ministry in Istanbul confirmed that Suleimanov, a native of the Soviet Azerbaijan Republic, had asked for political asylum at the Turkish embassy in Athens. Azerbaijan has close linguistic and cultural ties with Turkey.Orazdurdiev, 20, won in the 165-pound division by lifting a total of 797.5 pounds. Pablo Lara of Cuba finished second with 786.5.