Doctors in Turkic countries have benefited from a new program of the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) in which the state-run organization offered training in laparoscopy via online courses, which also included surgeries broadcast live.

The project, in partnership with the Health Sciences University, the Islamic Development Bank, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and a medical association, reached out to 1,000 health care workers in Turkic countries in Central Asia between Dec. 26 and Dec. 27.

The YTB said Turkic countries look to Turkey due to the latter’s advancement in health care and that the organization aims to help those countries train qualified health care personnel. The YTB has not paused its projects for the Turkic world despite the COVID-19 pandemic but instead focused its work to help fight the spreading virus.

Some 120 health care workers in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan were trained to battle the pandemic by Turkish medical experts, including members of the Health Ministry’s Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board.