Turkey to donate $200,000 for Native Americans’ water supply

WASHINGTON – Anadolu Agency

Turkish Ambassador Namık Tan and TİKA President Serdar Çam submitted a symbolic check of $200,000 to Joseph Moses, chairman of the Warm Springs Tribal Council in Oregon. CİHAN photo

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency Directorate (TİKA) will establish a water supply tank for a Native American tribe in western Oregon in the United States, allocating $200,000 for the project.

The aid was announced at a reception held in the Turkish Embassy in Washington. Turkish Ambassador Namık Tan and TİKA President Serdar Çam submitted a symbolic check of $200,000 to Joseph Moses, chairman of the Warm Springs Tribal Council in Oregon.

The project will provide water for 5,000 people living in 700 dwellings in Warm Springs, TİKA said in a statement.

Çam said they planned to complete the project by the end of the middle of 2014.

“Turkey is contributing a water supply project here where larger construction is ongoing. We are pleased to contribute to people who are friends of us, [Native Americans], in line with Turkey-U.S. relations,” said Çam.

Tan said they first planned to launch commercial relations with the indigenous community before deciding that providing small and practical solutions would be more helpful.

Moses said the project would ease their lives while expressing gratitude for the support.

Travis Wells, the manager of the project, thanked Turkey and the delegates of TİKA, underlining the vital importance of the water tank.

TİKA has carried out more than 11,000 projects in 100 countries since 2002.