Turkish aid group wins hearts, minds in post-Daesh Iraq

By Haydar Hadi

BAGHDAD (AA) - The Turkish Coordination and Cooperation Agency (TIKA) has continued to provide humanitarian aid across war-weary Iraq, winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on Thursday, Cuneyt Esmer, TIKA's Baghdad coordinator, reviewed the agency’s recent achievements in Iraq, as well as its future plans.

“Our aim is to support all the people of Iraq, regardless of ethnicity,” Esmer said.

TIKA, he explained, had been the first aid agency to arrive in Iraq’s Tal Afar district. A majority-Turkmen area of Iraq, Tal Afar sustained enormous damage during the Daesh terrorist group’s three-year reign of terror.

Noting that TIKA had had a presence in the city even before the Iraqi government’s post-Daesh cleanup campaign, Esmer said: “We have paid special attention to Turkmen regions, which have been among the most adversely affected.”

“Tal Afar was completely evacuated [during Daesh’s occupation], with locals fleeing to Erbil, Tikrit and Baghdad, or to Shia areas like Najaf, Karbala and Babil. Others sought shelter in Turkey,” he said.

“We have since enabled them to begin coming home,” he explained.

According to Esmer, TIKA has carried out extensive aid operations in all parts of Iraq, including Mosul, Tikrit, Baghdad, Najaf, Karbala, Falluja, Kut and Babil.

The official added that TIKA was now planning fresh infrastructure projects in the majority-Turkmen Tuz Khurmatu district and in nearby villages.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara