Africa gets lion’s share of Turkish foreign assistance

ANKARA

TİKA was established in 1992 in order to support the restructuring, integration and development processes of the ex-Soviet Turkic republics. AA Photo

In line with the government’s eagerness for making the Turkish opening of Africa a legendary success story, the African continent received the biggest share of overall assistance provided for different regions by Turkey’s aid agency in 2013.

The highest amount of assistance per country was received by Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Palestine, Pakistan, Somalia and Tunisia, according to a 2013 activity report by the Prime Ministry’s Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) released on Nov. 7.

The African continent received 33.7 percent of the overall assistance, while South and Central Asia received 21.83 percent, the Middle East received 21.74 percent, and the Balkans and East Europe received 21.4 percent, according to the report.

Some 45.5 percent of this assistance was for health, 20.49 percent for administration and civic duties, 15.81 percent for education, 14.78 percent for cultural cooperation and restoration, and 3.45 percent for water and water purification.

TİKA was established in 1992 in order to support the restructuring, integration and development processes of the ex-Soviet Turkic republics.

The agency carries out operations in more than 30 countries, primarily in Turkey’s immediate neighborhood, but also throughout the world.

Turkey engages with Africa not only to develop its national strategy and to throw its economic and political weight, but also to share the sorrow of African people, Prime Minister (formerly Foreign Minister) Ahmet Davutoğlu said in 2013.

Turkey launched a major diplomatic, economic and humanitarian push in war-torn Somalia, becoming one of the very few nations to set up an embassy in its capital after members of al-Shabaab were driven out of the city in 2011. Since then, Turkey has been flooding Mogadishu with hundreds of development and aid workers, as well as opening schools, improving sanitation and repairing roads and the city’s airport.