TİKA Supports the World Meteorological Day Program

A celebration event was held on March 23 to mark the World Meteorological Day as part of the “Meteorological Training Programs (METOP),” conducted by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and Turkish State Meteorological Service.

The celebration event hosted by Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli, Ph.D. and held by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) with the theme of “The Ocean, Our Climate, and Weather” to mark the World Meteorological Day, which has been celebrated with a different theme each year since 1961, was attended by Süleyman Soylu, Minister of Interior; Seyit Ahmet Baş, President of the Court of Accounts; Prof. Necdet Budak, Rector of Ege University; Prof. Necdet Ünüvar, Rector of Ankara University; Prof. Yunus Kılıç, Chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Forestry, and Village Affairs of the GNAT and MP for Kars; General Arif Çetin, General Commander of the Turkish Gendarmerie; Dr. Albert Martis, Vice President of the World Meteorological Organization; senior managers of the organization; and Emin Eminoğlu, Deputy President of the Assembly of the IMEAK Chamber of Shipping.

In his speech at the ceremony, Minister Pakdemirli said, “Each piece of meteorological data protects and saves thousands of lives. According to the World Meteorological Organization, approximately 79% of natural disasters were directly or indirectly related to weather events between 1970 and 2019.” Minister Pakdemirli stressed the importance of meteorology and said, “The natural disasters caused by weather events accounted for 56% of deaths and 75% of economic losses during that period. Therefore, being prepared for natural disasters caused by weather events will play a major role in reducing the damage caused by these disasters and increasing the resilience of communities to natural disasters.”

Thanks to the cooperation between TİKA and Turkish State Meteorological Service, Turkey’s knowledge of, capacity for, and experience in meteorology and its developing technological and technical infrastructure are effectively shared with the recipient countries.

It is aimed to increase the cooperation between TİKA and Turkish State Meteorological Service.