The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) will repair a bridge heavily damaged by the terrorist group Daesh in Mosul, Iraq. Officials announced that the 648-meter-long bridge over the Tigris River would facilitate transportation and speed up the returns of displaced locals who had to flee the Daesh invasion of the city in 2014.
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy tweeted yesterday that TİKA would undertake the reparation project on instruction of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. "Bridge Number 4, which connects Mosul's west and east, will be repaired by TİKA as part of reconstruction of the city and efforts to return life to normal," Ersoy tweeted. The bridge was one of many damaged by Daesh.
Significant parts of Mosul were also devastated during the Iraqi army and paramilitary groups' offensive to recapture the city from Daesh in 2017. Turkey announced that it would provide the necessary support for the reconstruction of Iraq, pledging a $5 billion loan and $50 million aid grants last year, making it the top contributor to the country.
TİKA is also behind restoration and renovation projects in Kirkuk and Baghdad, including repairing a historic bazaar devastated in a fire in Kirkuk last year and the Baghdad tomb of Abdulqadir Al Jilani, the famous 12th century spiritual master.
