Turkey’s state-run aid agency has carried out over 600 projects in Mongolia in numerous fields, including education, health, infrastructure, and cultural cooperation, according to officials from the organisation.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) started its work in Mongolia in 1994, two years before Turkey opened an embassy in the country.

One hugely important contribution TIKA has made is helping the survival of the Tsaatan ethnic group. Various aid projects have been conducted for these reindeer herder people whose language and culture are at risk of disappearing, with their numbers dwindling to only 800.

Braving cold and forests to carry 10 tons of food over 400 kilometers (249 miles), the agency delivered humanitarian aid to 50 rural households last week, also providing them with 20 breeding reindeer, which constitute their main livelihood.

Turkey and Mongolia are also planning to boost cultural ties by protecting their shared cultural remains such as the eighth-century Orkhon inscriptions,which are the oldest written sources of Turkic history. Not many people realise that the roots and culture of the Turkish people are intrinsically linked to Mongolia.

TIKA’s country coordinator Emrah Ustaomer said they are also working on a museum to house the Tonyukuk inscriptions which date back to the eighth century. The museum will open later this year. The agency is also renovating old mosques and building new cultural centres for Mongolia’s Muslim Kazakh population.