The Afghan Refugees Solidarity Association (ARSA) is based in Kayseri province, which is centrally located in Turkey and serves as the administrative center of the network of Afghan community leaders in various provinces of Turkey.

In 2009, the ARSA began operating as the Coordinator of Afghan Refugees through volunteer Afghan refugees. It was founded in 2014 as an independent and non-profit official association by journalists, doctors, academics, architects and humanitarian workers.

ARSA has previously carried out various projects in partnership with Kayseri municipality (Metropolitan and District), the Asylum and Migration Research Center (IGAM), International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Swiss Embassy, Blue Crescent Society and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other non-governmental organizations.

The activities aim at addressing both refugee and host communities and building goal-oriented and mutual trust between refugees and host communities through socio-cultural activities, including a range of psycho-social elements, skills training -usually aimed at women-, arts and calligraphy festivals, football tournaments, craft fairs and first aid training, social cohesion activities.

As mentioned above, Afghan Refugees Solidarity Association has been operating in Kayseri for years and has gained the support and reliable reputation of local authorities, governance structures, as well as NGOs and UNHCR in all interventions at the community level. Within the scope of social cohesion activities, information meetings and group activities are carried out in addition to the individual counseling of refugees and local people in Turkey and providing protection support and referral to protection services.

ARSA has taken part in national and international conferences and presentations have been made. ARSA operates in 60 provinces with the help of 370 volunteers across Turkey and also works closely with the network of Afghan refugee community leaders and their focus on various provinces around Turkey, which provides an advantage for the reproduction and implementation of good practices in refugee leadership and representation.

As we believe in the importance of cooperation between NGOs working in the field of migration, ARSA is one of the founding members of the Refugee Council of Turkey (TMK). It is an umbrella organization and was established by 26 non-governmental organizations working in the field. ARSA was elected as a Member of the Board of the Refugee Council of Turkey and later as the Vice President.

Afghan Refugees Solidarity Association EU Delegation meeting in Turkey on July 12, 2017, Mr Christian Berger, head of the EU Delegation to Turkey, and the accompanying delegation came to Kayseri and met with the ARSA team. The aim of the meeting was to follow the work of the Afghan Refugees Solidarity Association more closely and to present the results of the 2016 report "Living Conditions of Afghan Asylum Seekers and Reasons for Escape to Europe" with the Support of activists of the Sivil Düşün European Union Program.

ARSA worked with Oxfam and held the MENA Refugee Summit in Istanbul in 2019, attended by refugee leaders living in the Middle East and North Africa region. The result of this Congress was shared at The Global Refugee Forum held by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva. ARSA was selected as one of the two organizations representing the MENA (Middle East and North Africa Region).