BELGRADE, Serbia

The Turkish International Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) marks its 24th anniversary by completing 900 projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

TIKA has representative offices in 60 countries across the world where they carry out humanitarian and development projects.

The office in Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo this year marks its 24th anniversary of opening its doors to help develop the country which back then was just out of a war.

It was just after the bloody Bosnian War in 1992-1995 when thousands of civilians were killed and the country was attacked by hundreds of thousands of bombs that destroyed the most important historical heritages.

TIKA, from the first day of its office hours until 2020, has completed 900 projects in many areas from conservation of historical and cultural heritage, education, health, infrastructure, agriculture to livestock.

These 900 projects played a very important role in healing the wounded country.

Most importantly, TIKA has carried out all of these projects embracing all sectors of society regardless of religion or race, which is very important for the country due to its rich multi-ethnic culture.

Aiming to provide a more qualified educational environment for future generations, TIKA supported the physical and technological infrastructure of schools, built new educational institutions with modern conditions, and realized training and experience sharing programs to strengthen the instructor staff.

TIKA also supports the economic strengthening of the families in rural areas of the country, as well as people who fled their homelands during the war.

In particular, TIKA provides employment opportunities for people through economic projects.

TIKA has reached nearly a thousand families so far with a project called "Food and Life Support Program" launched in 2017.

Meanwhile, TIKA aims to reach 500 more families in 2020 with this project.

It also carries out important projects in the field of health.

The projects improve the physical infrastructure of institutions such as hospitals and health centers, provide modern equipment, and help to increase both the quality of service and the professional equipment of health personnel.

TIKA was established in 1992 as a government-run agency of Turkey, responsible for implementing the country’s developmental cooperation policies overseas.