Turkish aid agency TİKA starts development program in Namibia

The state-run Turkish International Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) has launched a rural development program for one of Namibia's ancestral ethnic groups, the San people, an official statement said Saturday.

The San, also known as Basarwa or Khwe, have deep roots in Namibia going back some 20,000 years. TİKA said that as part of a rural development program, stationery and school equipment, clothing and other aid materials have been delivered to the San in Tsumkwe, located in northeastern Namibia's Otjozondjupa region.

The agency will also work with local municipalities to teach farming techniques to the San. The San faced suppression and slavery at the hands of the German Empire in the 19th century, and the Namibia genocide, considered one of the first genocides of the 20th century, was carried out by the Germans against the Herero and Nama peoples in southwestern Africa.