Turkey funded over 760 aid projects in Kyrgyzstan

A Turkish aid agency said it has carried out more than 760 projects in the last 26 years in Kyrgyzstan, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan commenced a three-day visit to the country on Saturday.

Ali Muslu, programme coordinator of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, told Anadolu Agency that so far 761 projects have been completed in the education, health and culture sectors, as well as those related to infrastructure and humanitarian aid.

Muslu added that Kyrgyzstan was one of the leading aid recipients of the agency.

As part of its efforts to improve healthcare services, TIKA is building a state-of-the-art hospital named Kyrgyz-Turkish Friendship Bishkek Hospital.

Another hospital in the country’s southern Osh city treated 115,000 people in 2014, he added.

Muslu said that TIKA also completed a housing project after at least 24 people were killed in a landslide in Osh’s Ayu village in 2017. The houses have been handed over to the locals.

The Turkish aid agency also helps restoration projects in Kyrgyzstan, Muslu added.

“In 2016, we launched a restoration project for the National Museum of Kyrgyzstan. We changed the marble on the external wall of the museum and cleaned marble coverings of the museum. We also restored the museum’s terrace coverings, hand-rails, and windows,” he said.

The museum, which was built during the Soviet Era, is expected to reopen soon.

Turkish cultural centre

Muslu recalled that the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY) had announced 2018 as “Aitmatov Year” to mark the great writer Chyngyz Aitmatov’s 90th birthday.

He added that Kyrgyzstan’s National Library, which houses over 6 million books in 90 languages and serves over 50,000 people yearly was also supported by TIKA.

A Kyrgyz-Turkish cultural centre, named after the late Kyrgyz writer Aitmatov, has been established. The Turkish Culture Ministry will donate over 7,000 books on Turkish history, literature, arts and science.

The Chyngyz Aitmatov Kyrgyz-Turkish Cultural Center is expected to be inaugurated by the Turkish and Kyrgyz First Ladies Emine Erdogan and Aygul Jeenbekov on Sept. 2.

Aitmatov (1928-2008) is widely read and respected in Turkey. He is best known in Turkey for the 1978 film "The Girl with Red Scarf (Selvi Boylum Al Yazmalım)", which was adapted from his 1970 short novel "The Red Scarf".

Erdogan will attend several meetings in Bishkek from September 1 to 3.