The Football Field Built by TİKA in Tal Afar was opened with a ceremony

In May 2021, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) started the construction of the Tal Afar Al-Salam Football Field in the Tal Afar, Mosul, Iraq. It was completed in a short time and made ready to open. It was inaugurated with a ceremony attended by many people.

Turkish Ambassador to Baghdad Ali Rıza Güney, Turkish Mosul Consul General Mehmet Küçüksakallı, TİKA Baghdad Coordinator Mustafa Yazıcı, Tel Afar Mayor and Telafer District Governor, and prominent representatives attended the ceremony.

Speaking in his opening speech, Ambassador Ali Rıza Güney noted that TİKA carries out activities in Iraq and stated that the football field they opened in Tal Afar, whose infrastructure was badly damaged after the DAESH invasion, will greatly contribute to the social life of the young people who live in the city.

Speaking at the opening, TİKA Baghdad Coordinator Mustafa Yazıcı stated that they have carried out many projects in the fields of education, health, and civil infrastructure development to ensure that Tal Afar, which became completely Turkmen after the DAESH/ISIS invasion, returns to its old days. Yazıcı said that they decided to build a football field at international standards to alleviate the negative effects of extremist organizations on young people and to open a new social space for them. Adding that the field will be used not only by Tal Afar but also by more than 50 clubs from the places around, Yazıcı noted that TİKA will always stand by the Turkmens as it is today.

The Tal Afar Al-Salam Football Field, which was inaugurated, has international standard measurements besides lighting systems that allow night matches to be held.