KOSOVO: Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan visits the ancient town of Prizren as part of his fist official visit to Kosovo

Record ID: 217500

  • Title: KOSOVO: Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan visits the ancient town of Prizren as part of his fist official visit to Kosovo
  • Date: 4th November 2010
  • Summary: PEOPLE CHEERING AS ERDOGAN ARRIVES KOSOVO PRIME MINISTER HASHIM THACI AND ERDOGAN ON STAGE MAN WAVING TURKISH FLAG THACI AND ERDOGAN ON STAGE THACI WALKING ONTO PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) KOSOVO PRIME MINISTER, HASHIM THACI, SAYING: "This day is a special day for the republic of Kosovo. It is a day that history is being made because for the first time in Kosovo's
  • Embargoed: 19th November 2010 12:00
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  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAF4GLE7TIOK3OAIO6F03J5EIHI
  • Story Text: Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan visits the ancient town of Prizren as part of his fist official visit to Kosovo.
    Thousands of people gathered on Wednesday (November 3) in the southern Kosovan town of Prizren to give a warm welcome to the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on his first official visit to Kosovo.
    School children holding Kosovo and Turkish flags lined the streets to greet the Turkish convoy on its way to visit the ancient town.
    Kosovo and most of the Balkans were once part of the Ottoman Empire and share many cultural aspects with each other and with Turkey.
    "This day is a special day for the republic of Kosovo. It is a day that history is being made because for the first time in Kosovo's history a Turkish Prime Minister is visiting the country. And it is the hero of Kosovo, Prime Minister Erdogan," Thaci said in front of the crowd.
    Turkey was among the first countries to recognise Kosovo's independence two years ago and has since lobbied other countries to recognise the republic.
    Turkey has contributed to the restoration of Mosques in Kosovo which were destroyed during the war.
    On his visit to Prizren, Erdogan paid a visit to one of the Mosques renovated with Turkish investments.
    "In Kosovo there are some 150 Mosques that show our common past," Erdogan said, "these Mosques symbolise the brotherhood between Kosovo and Turkey," he added before thanking Kosovo for taking care of their common heritage.
    "I want to thank the state of Kosovo and the Kosovan Prime Minister Mister Thaci for taking good care of them and saving them for future generations," he said to the cheering crowd.
    On the second day of his visit Erdogan will continue with his tour of the country.
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