Turkey the first country to open a consulate general in Kosovo

Turkey is opening a consulate general in Kosovo, in its historic city of Prizren, with Consul General Selcen Evcit coming into the office as of Tuesday.

With the consulate general set to be opened in Prizren on Tuesday, Turkey will be the first country to open an additional consular representative in Kosovo. Turkey had previously opened its embassy in the capital Pristina following Kosovo's independence from Serbia in 2008, but with its second mission in the country, it aims to enhance the already close relationship between the two nations. Turkey will accordingly open a consulate general in the country's second largest city Prizren that hosts a huge population of Kosovo Turks.

Turkey's new consul general to Prizren, Selcen Evcit, said she was proud to be the country's first consul general. Evcit said, "We will handle everything that was previously handled in Pristina Embassy in Prizren too, such as citizenship and military affairs."

When Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008, Turkey became one of the first countries to recognize its sovereignty. Turkey turned its coordination office in Pristina into an Embassy after a cabinet decision to open a mission in Kosovo. The decision came in accordance with the reciprocity principle common in diplomatic relations, when Kosovo announced that it was planning to open one of its first foreign missions in Ankara.