Turkish aid agency sets up marketplace in Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan

Turkey’s state-run aid agency on Monday established a “from village to city” marketplace in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku with the aim to promote the agricultural products produced by the farmers.

Established with the cooperation of the Agriculture Ministry of Azerbaijan and the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA), the marketplace will offer the agricultural products produced by the farmers directly to the city residents.

Azerbaijan’s Agriculture Minister Inam Karimov, Turkey’s Ambassador to Baku Erkan Ozoral, and TIKA’s Program Coordinator in Baku Teoman Tiryaki attended the opening ceremony among others.

Karimov told reporters that Azerbaijan traditionally sets up agricultural products’ sale centers every year before New Year’s Eve.

Emphasizing that the aim is to deliver farmers’ products to the consumers at affordable prices, Karimov said that all operations in the marketplace will be carried out in compliance with measures to curb the spread of coronavirus.

He also praised TIKA for the cooperation in the project and thanked those who contributed to the establishment of the marketplace.

Speaking at the ceremony, Ozoral reiterated that vegetables, fruits, and foodstuffs will be sold directly from the farmers to the consumers at the most affordable prices.

The envoy also thanked TIKA for launching such a project during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tiryaki, on his turn, underlined that the marketplace would enable both the villagers to sell their products at better prices without the intervention of middlemen traders, and the city residents to buy organic products directly from the farmers.

He highlighted that the marketplace is a significant initiative to meet the basic needs of people in hygienic conditions, adding that people will be using the marketplace throughout the year, with 150 farmers selling their products in an area of approximately 1,000 square meters (nearly 10,760 square foot).

Established in 1992, Turkey’s government-run aid agency is responsible for implementing the country’s developmental cooperation policies overseas.

“Focusing on development cooperation, TIKA works in more than 150 countries, including the ones where their offices are located,” according to the agency’s website.

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev from Ankara