balkan insight
04 Nov 2010 / 08:10
One of Kosovo’s leading businessmen has called for a new chapter in relations with Turkey as its Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Pristina on Wednesday.
One of Kosovo’s leading businessmen has called for a new chapter in relations with Turkey as its Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Pristina on Wednesday.
Petrit CollakuPristina
Safet Gerxhaliu, president of Kosovo Chamber of Commerce, thanked Turkey for its support of Kosovo “before, during and after the war”, but said that relations should now focus on serious economic development rather than traditional cultural ties.
He told Balkan Insight: “It’s a fact that Turkey should be more active in capital investment in Kosovo because the time has passed when Kosovars were in need of two litres of oil, sugar and flour.”
Gerxhaliu added that Kosovo must nurture its strong bonds with Turkey, which “economic experts believe will be among the top ten most developed countries in the world by 2024”, he said.
“We have to stop the family and emotional relations with Turkey because it’s the time of economic pragmatism.”
But he added that Kosovo must also be realistic about its potential economic might, stressing: “If Kosovo produced only for Turkey, it would not meet the needs of one neighbourhood of Istanbul.”
On the first day of Erdogan's two-day visit to Kosovo, the first since Pristina’s February 2008 declaration of independence, the Turkish prime minister revealed that trade with Kosovo had almost doubled in the past two years.
He said that despite the global economic crisis, trade between the two countries had increased from $120 million in 2008 to $210 million in 2009.
Turkey is ready to offer its support for Kosovo’s economy, tourism, EU integration process and membership in NATO, Erdogan added.
In a joint press conference held with Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, Erdogan said: “We have offered our support [to Kosovo] and we are aware of the duty we have to support Kosovo in the process of integration and its membership in NATO.”
Erdogan and Thaci highlighted Turkish companies’ increasing involvement in Kosovo’s economy in the field of road-building, airports and telecommunications.
The Turkish-US consortium Bechtel-Enka is building a €700 million highway, the largest infrastructure project ever carried out in Kosovo, and Turkey's Limak is part of the consortium which will run Pristina’s airport for 20 years. In addition, Turkish firms have expressed interest in bidding for other major projects, including the purchase of Post Telecommunications of Kosovo and the building of a new power station.
He added that Turkey would also help develop the tourism sector through reconstruction of heritage sites.
The Turkish Agency for Reconstruction and Development has funded a series of works on Ottoman era historic buildings since the end of the Kosovo conflict, including renovation of the largest and most important mosques in Pristina and Prizren.
“Kosovo has a lot of rare beauty and has inherited a host of cultural and historical monuments,” Erdogan said.
“We, through the Turkish Agency for Reconstruction and Development, TIKA, are interested in reconstructing a range of cultural and historical artefacts that will make this country even more attractive in terms of cultural activities.”
After Pristina, the Turkish PM visited Kosovo’s second city, Prizren, which is home to 14,000 Turks, or 6 per cent of the population, and where Turkish is one of the three official languages.
Even among Albanians in Prizren, Turkish is often the language spoken at home.
Turkey was one of the first countries to recognise Kosovo’s declaration of independence and is home to 1.3 million people of Albanian descent, according to an academic report published by the National Security Council of Turkey.
Turkey is ready to offer its support for Kosovo’s economy, tourism, EU integration process and membership in NATO, Erdogan added.
In a joint press conference held with Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, Erdogan said: “We have offered our support [to Kosovo] and we are aware of the duty we have to support Kosovo in the process of integration and its membership in NATO.”
Erdogan and Thaci highlighted Turkish companies’ increasing involvement in Kosovo’s economy in the field of road-building, airports and telecommunications.
The Turkish-US consortium Bechtel-Enka is building a €700 million highway, the largest infrastructure project ever carried out in Kosovo, and Turkey's Limak is part of the consortium which will run Pristina’s airport for 20 years. In addition, Turkish firms have expressed interest in bidding for other major projects, including the purchase of Post Telecommunications of Kosovo and the building of a new power station.
He added that Turkey would also help develop the tourism sector through reconstruction of heritage sites.
The Turkish Agency for Reconstruction and Development has funded a series of works on Ottoman era historic buildings since the end of the Kosovo conflict, including renovation of the largest and most important mosques in Pristina and Prizren.
“Kosovo has a lot of rare beauty and has inherited a host of cultural and historical monuments,” Erdogan said.
“We, through the Turkish Agency for Reconstruction and Development, TIKA, are interested in reconstructing a range of cultural and historical artefacts that will make this country even more attractive in terms of cultural activities.”
After Pristina, the Turkish PM visited Kosovo’s second city, Prizren, which is home to 14,000 Turks, or 6 per cent of the population, and where Turkish is one of the three official languages.
Even among Albanians in Prizren, Turkish is often the language spoken at home.
Turkey was one of the first countries to recognise Kosovo’s declaration of independence and is home to 1.3 million people of Albanian descent, according to an academic report published by the National Security Council of Turkey.
balkan insight
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