Türkiye to send additional troops to Kosovo at NATO's request over recent tensions

ANKARA

Türkiye announced Saturday it will deploy additional forces to Kosovo in response to recent tension in the Balkan country.

“Amid recent developments in Kosovo, a commando battalion affiliated to our 65th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Command, which was previously assigned to the NATO Kosovo Force, was assigned as a reserve force at the request of NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command Naples,” the Turkish National Defense Ministry said in a written statement.

Preparations have started for transferring the unit to the Sultan Murat Barracks in the southern city of Prizren, where Turkish soldiers are stationed by Sunday or Monday, said the ministry.

Türkiye continues to contribute to regional and global peace and stability as part of its missions under the UN, NATO, EU, and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OSCE) as well as its bilateral relations, the statement said.

Türkiye “closely” follows developments in the Balkan region, with which it shares common historical and cultural values, it said.

"Türkiye has been taking a constructive stance and calling for restraint on the parties to resolve the recent conflicts in the north of brotherly Kosovo, which harm regional security and stability, through dialogue," it added.

Tensions have gripped Kosovo as local Serbs protested the election of ethnic Albanian mayors in four municipalities last month in the country's northern municipalities.

Ethnic Serbs in the country's north – the country’s second-largest ethnic group – have been protesting the election of ethnic Albanian mayors since late May.

On Monday, at least 30 soldiers of the NATO-led international peacekeeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR) were injured in clashes with Serbs who were protesting and attempting to prevent the newly elected mayor of Zvecan in northern Kosovo from entering the town hall to take the oath of office and begin his official responsibilities.