Turkish aid agency starts cleanup drive in Yemen’s Aden

ADEN, Yemen (AA) - Turkey’s Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has launched a cleanup campaign in Yemen’s city of Aden, which currently serves as interim capital for Yemen’s internationally-recognized government.

TIKA’s “Cleanup and Improvement Fund” aims to rid the coastal city’s streets of garbage, waste and war debris.

Abdullah Sari, TIKA's coordinator in Yemen, told Anadolu Agency that the first phase of the campaign kicked off Tuesday in Aden's Hur Mekser district.

According to Sari, most of Yemen’s sanitation infrastructure has been rendered inoperable due to the country’s ongoing conflict.

“In the second phase of the project, we will receive cleaning supplies and garbage trucks from Turkey,” he said.

A third phase of the campaign, Sari explained, would focus on repairing damage to the local environment and fighting the spread of diseases caused by the war.

Khalil Mukbel Ahmed, head of Aden’s municipal sanitation authority, expressed his satisfaction with the project, underlining the campaign’s importance in preventing the further spread of disease.

Ahmed also thanked TIKA -- and Turkey -- for its role in the cleanup campaign.

Impoverished Yemen has remained in disarray since 2014, when Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated one year later when a Saudi-led Arab coalition launched a devastating air campaign aimed at rolling back Houthi gains.

Since then, the country has faced a host of public-health challenges, including a major cholera epidemic that experts blame on a lack of functioning medical infrastructure and access to clean water.