The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) yesterday took command of NATO-led peacekeepers in southern Kosovo, an official said.
It will be the first time that Turkey, which has 800 soldiers in Kosovo, has led operations in the area, Lt. Col. Reaner Grossman, a spokesman for the peacekeepers, was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. It will lead the operation for a year.
So far, German officers have led the area � which is patrolled by 4,000 troops from eight countries. Most of the soldiers deployed in southern Kosovo come from Germany, Turkey, Austria, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Netherlands.
The handover ceremony took place in the ancient town of Prizren, part of the Ottoman Empire for five centuries. The town has Ottoman-era mosques and a hamam, or Turkish bath. Turkey took over the command as part of a normal rotation, Grossman said.
Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since mid-1999 when a NATO air war halted a crackdown by Serb forces on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians. Some 16,500 NATO-led troops are in charge of the overall security in the province of two million.
Turkish Daily News, LINK
It will be the first time that Turkey, which has 800 soldiers in Kosovo, has led operations in the area, Lt. Col. Reaner Grossman, a spokesman for the peacekeepers, was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. It will lead the operation for a year.
So far, German officers have led the area � which is patrolled by 4,000 troops from eight countries. Most of the soldiers deployed in southern Kosovo come from Germany, Turkey, Austria, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Netherlands.
The handover ceremony took place in the ancient town of Prizren, part of the Ottoman Empire for five centuries. The town has Ottoman-era mosques and a hamam, or Turkish bath. Turkey took over the command as part of a normal rotation, Grossman said.
Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since mid-1999 when a NATO air war halted a crackdown by Serb forces on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians. Some 16,500 NATO-led troops are in charge of the overall security in the province of two million.
Turkish Daily News, LINK
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