TİKA Has Implemented More Than 1200 Projects in Azerbaijan

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) has carried out more than 1200 activities and projects in Azerbaijan.

TİKA established its Baku Coordination Office in 1994, immediately after the declaration of independence of Azerbaijan, in order to support this young country in strengthening its social structure, building its own identity properly, improving cultural and political rights, and eliminating technical infrastructure deficiencies.

In the 27 years since then, TİKA has carried out more than 1200 activities and projects in Azerbaijan. As part of its projects and activities in Azerbaijan, TİKA has so far trained a total of 1531 healthcare professionals, 950 tourism employees, 274 judges and prosecutors, 783 IT specialists, 380 security officers, 480 press members, 185 NGO representatives, and 991 fine arts and crafts specialists. Nearly six thousand Azerbaijanis attended the training and experience programs conducted.

The projects and activities carried out by TİKA are designed in accordance with strategic priorities such as “Reconstruction and Development of Karabakh,” “Development of Non-Oil Sectors,” “Eliminating Social Inequalities,” “Developing Our Common Values of Civilization,” and “Developing Joint Activities with Other Countries.” Within the framework of these five strategic priorities, TİKA supports the development of agriculture, industry, and service sector in Azerbaijan; implements projects for people with disabilities, low-income individuals, and forced migrants from Karabakh, especially Meskhetian Turks, with an approach based on “affirmative action”; publishes various materials and holds scientific and promotional events in order to preserve and improve common cultural, religious, artistic, and historical values; and carries out activities for third countries based on the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

More Than 500 Projects to Support the Development of Azerbaijan’s Economy

Development of non-oil sectors is one of the priority state policies of Azerbaijan. In order to diversify the sectors in the country, TİKA has implemented various support projects, including training and experience-sharing programs in the fields of health, education, IT, media, public services, and tourism; beekeeping, dairy farming, and cereal production projects in the field of agriculture; and the construction of technoparks, industrial zones, and industrial parks in the field of industry.

Some of the noteworthy activities and projects carried out by TİKA included the National Highland Festival, held in order to keep alive and promote the traditional highland culture and nomadic traditions of Azerbaijan; the establishment of ABAD sales centers to keep alive and disseminate crafts and contribute to the livelihood and employment of people; the distribution of 5000 bee colonies to 500 families; the support provided for 40 families to engage in animal husbandry; and the contribution made to farming and the establishment of various plants in Jojug Marjanly, liberated from the Armenian occupation in 2016.

TİKA established a radio-TV station that meets current demands and offers applied training at Baku State University, as well as ASAN Radio, a public radio station. The Agency will also renovate the Quadrangular Castle, built between the 13^th and 14^th centuries in the town of Mardakan in Baku, and the Tuba-Shakha Mosque, built from 1492 to 1493 right next to the castle, in order to preserve tangible cultural assets and cultural heritage for future generations in Azerbaijan.

“Our next projects will focus on Karabakh, which was liberated from occupation.”

Teoman Tiryaki, TİKA’s Baku Coordinator, stated that Azerbaijan has always been of special importance for TİKA. He said, “Since its establishment, TİKA’s Baku Program Coordination Office has been striving to improve the cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan in various fields such as education, health, culture, agriculture, tourism, and administrative infrastructure.”

Tiryaki stressed that TİKA has carried out more than 1200 activities and projects in Azerbaijan in the 27 years since the establishment of its Baku office. He said, “The main purpose of our projects and activities in Azerbaijan, our sister country, was to contribute to its development process, which focused on continuous development and turned Azerbaijan into the leading country and a popular tourist attraction in the region in the 2010s, after being destroyed during the war and occupation in the 1990s.”

Noting that Turkey stood in solidarity with Azerbaijan using every means available during the 44-day Karabakh War, as in every other issue, Tiryaki said, “As TİKA, our projects contribute to the development and growth of Azerbaijan and further strengthen the ties between the two countries. Our next projects and activities will focus on the revival and development of the areas liberated from occupation, and will enable our brothers and sisters who migrated from their homeland, Karabakh, nearly thirty years ago to return to their ancestral lands and live there under the best possible conditions. TİKA will stand in solidarity with the people of Azerbaijan, our sister country, in the areas liberated from occupation with concrete projects focused on meeting the needs in all fields such as education, health, and agriculture; generating employment; supporting the administrative and civil infrastructure with every means available for the revival of these areas; and restoring the historical artifacts and buildings destroyed