The last batch of troops from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) arrived in Kosovo late Tuesday after the NATO member joined a joint task force for the de-escalation of ethnic tensions in the Balkan country.
The third plane carrying a commando battalion in northwestern Türkiye landed in Pristina. They later traveled to Sultan Murat barracks in Prizren where a Turkish contingent, part of NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) was deployed years ago following a war in the 1990s.
The Ministry of National Defense announced the deployment last week, upon the request of the NATO Joint Force Command.
In a written statement from the ministry regarding the developments in Kosovo, it was stated that Türkiye continues to contribute to regional and global peace and stability within the scope of its United Nations, NATO, European Union and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) missions and bilateral relations.
In this context, it was emphasized that the developments in the Balkans, with common historical and cultural values with Türkiye, are also followed closely. "Türkiye displays a constructive stance and calls for restraint to the parties for resolving the recent events in the friendly and brotherly northern part of Kosovo, that harm regional security and stability, through dialogue," the statement read.
"After the events in Kosovo, NATO Joint Force Command in Naples (Italy), a commando battalion affiliated to our 65th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Command (Lüleburgaz), which was previously allocated to the NATO Kosovo Force, was assigned as a reserve unit. Necessary preparations for its transfer have begun."
Tensions flared up again in Kosovo’s north in late May when Albanian mayors sought to assume office in four municipalities with a predominantly Kosovo Serbs population. The Serbs have already boycotted the April elections, automatically granting victory to Albanian candidates. They staged protests against new mayors and subsequent clashes between protesters and NATO-led international peacekeeping mission injured 30 KFOR soldiers.
NATO has pledged to deploy more troops in the country following the incidents. KFOR already has around 3,800 troops from 27 countries.
Türkiye’s early contribution to KFOR was largely confined to an auxiliary role and focused on humanitarian missions, such as the delivery of aid to the disadvantaged communities in the country.
