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Most of Kosovo’s military equipment is Turkish, primarily armored vehicles, missiles, and drones.
Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher
As Turkey has been arming Kosovo for years, its latest delivery of kamikaze drones, which pose one of the most serious military challenges to Serbia in the last 25 years, should not surprise Belgrade. In fact, even though Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić has attempted to attract Turkish military industrial investment and cooperation, Turkey will not stop its support for the military of Kosovo, which Belgrade views as a separatist region of Serbia and not an independent state.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on October 8 escorted a contingent of 1,000 Skydagger 15 kamikaze drones to Kosovo, which were personally welcomed at Pristina Airport by acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti. This personal delivery of drones was a huge reality check for Vučić, who has been attempting to woo Turkey away from military ties with the Albanian-majority Kosovo and redirect them to Belgrade.
In 2022, Belgrade announced its intention to purchase Turkish drones. This was followed by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Turkey in the military sector, including drone production, in 2024. Due to this, the sudden and mass delivery of drones to Kosovo caused Vučić to scathingly accuse Erdoğan of harboring neo-Ottoman ambitions, considering that Albanians were the most loyal subjects of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. He then quickly backtracked only a day later.
“I am horrified by Turkey’s behavior and the brutal violation of the U.N. Charter and U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, as well as the continued arming of the Pristina authorities,” Vučić said on X on October 8. “It is now completely clear that Turkey does not want stability in the Western Balkans and is once again dreaming of restoring the Ottoman Empire. Serbia is a small country, but we have clearly understood the message!”
However, only a day later, Vučić said he had been misunderstood and that Serbia is “too small to threaten” Turkey, which he described as “a great power.” He added that Turkish-Serbian relations are in a “Golden Age” and that Erdoğan is the greatest Turkish leader since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Nonetheless, Western media interpret the delivery as a “personal act” by Erdoğan, which not only demonstrates support for Pristina from the second-strongest army in NATO, but also serves as a message to Belgrade from Ankara regarding its position on the Kosovo issue.
The Skydagger 15 drones can carry explosive mortar mines and are used to attack fortified objects, military vehicles, tanks, and other targets. Versions of these drones have a maximum operational distance of 10 to 35 kilometers. Additionally, there are models that carry a two-kilogram mortar mine and another that holds five.
Turkey has given Pristina an extremely offensive weapon with these drones, and these drones pose a great danger to the Serbian military. Primarily, these drones will be used as a provocation, albeit not necessarily with explosives, as they can be used for frequent overflights in the Ground Security Zone, necessitating the activation of anti-drone weapons, drone jamming systems, and other equipment.
The delivery of these drones is not the end of Ankara’s intentions to arm Pristina even more heavily. Turkey may deliver the second part of the planned package to Pristina in the form of artillery missile systems, which would pose a major threat to the Serbian military, as these systems have a range of over 40 kilometers.
Turkey has previously given Pristina several million dollars in weapons alone, something that the West looks favorably on because it suits them to have an independent Kosovo to serve as a military base in the Balkans. At the same time, Turkey can continue its policy of expanding influence in the Balkans by consolidating in Kosovo.
Ninety percent of Kosovo’s military equipment is from Turkey, primarily MRAP armored vehicles. Kosovo has also received automatic mortars, anti-tank missiles, and drones. Additionally, there is a hint that Turkey could deliver older versions of its helicopters.
It is also not ruled out that Turkey will give its surplus military equipment to Kurti, which would mean an increase in the overall combat power of Pristina, and this would lead to the third phase of transforming the so-called Kosovo Security Forces, in the literal sense of the word, into the army of Kosovo.
Turkey’s support for Pristina also includes free education for personnel in the Kosovo Security Forces in Turkish military academies.
Incidentally, last year, the media in Kosovo published information from sources in the Ministry of Defense that Kurti’s government had already chosen a company to build an ammunition factory in Kosovo, the Turkish company MKE. According to this information, the actual phase is expected to be completed within two years, during which the factory will begin producing 5.56 and 7.62 mm ammunition. The aforementioned contract should also include the design of drones.
Announcing the ammunition factory project, Kosovo’s so-called Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, previously announced that it was coordinated with international partners, including the United States, and that the Turkish Ministry of Defense had assisted with the preparation of a “feasibility study.” Maqedonci also specified that the project is in the finalization phase and that the ammunition produced will meet NATO standards.
In this way, even though Vučić is attempting to make Erdoğan see that there is greater potential for cooperation with Belgrade instead of Pristina, the Serbian president underestimates the value that Ankara places on the Albanians, who for many centuries were the most loyal Ottoman subjects, right until the empire’s very last days in the Balkans. Although Vučić seemingly came to this realization, his rapid backtracking suggests that he still delusionally believes he can bring Turkey onside.
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given that putler is the main slave of erdogan and also of jolani, i suggest to vučić that he find a new gavrilo princip to remove putler.
you are trolling an empty website, yevgeny prigozhin is dead and therefore there are no more visitors to the website. there’s no one here, we’re alone. assad is gone and my love for russia too also gone. if the russians really poisoned him, he deserved it with his cowardice and obedience to putler.
vučić is a fool who will soon be replaced by a nato-friendly leader of student pro-european protesters.
mr. gaddafi has been released from prison, someone can put him on the scene and overthrow two bad brainless turkish cia puppet and cia zio haftar.
i respected his father. he led libya brilliantly. the russian puppet haftar is leading the way libya disastrously, and the turkish al qaeda puppet is leading it even worse. the criminal erdogan and his equally corrupt colleague nicolas sarkozy destroyed libya.
vučić went to whine to ursula von der leyen not to throw him out of power in serbia. but ursula said: you go voluntarily or we will throw you out involuntarily.
i often remember mr. gaddafi. i also remember prigožin and utkin many times, i also remembered josip broz tito, nasrallah and soleimani respectly. vučić and putler receive my disrespect.
i respect mr. gaddafi and despise the russian prostitute vladimira puttana
i don’t like vučić, i hope that europe will successfully oust him from power and install someone from the student movement.
europe, ha-ha-ha. 1. not europe, but the eu, because almost a half of europe is in russia. 2. if eu installs some one, this will be a sodomite like ana brnabich and things gonna much worse for serbia. 3. serbia needs someone like alexandr vulin or dane chankovich, orban or putin. vuchich is like yanukovich who want to seat on many chairs — spinless behavior.
i still remember the dead gaddafi after so many years as a great man, a good leader and a true gentleman.
vučić and putler will be remembered by their people and by me only for being great thieves.
vučić should keep quiet, the mother of the youngest serbian mass murderer was employed in vučić’s ministry of darkness and is a member of his party. i respect gaddafi, i respect che guevara and the kurds communists, but i despise vučić and putler
lola, mila, mia and legion of transgenders with false names — you respect nothing, except green buck. that’s why you’ll die in fear for your useless life and then will go to hell forever. though you’re already living in hell.
hasta siempre colonel gaddafi. i will always respect you, as i still respect utkin, prigozhin, soleimani and nasrallah. i can only despise putin and erdogan.
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erdoganists and a sub-faction within the broader zionist coalition and as such they will always side with terrorists and imperialism.
turks will be turks and with turks it’s mohammedens first unless we’re talking about zionists. then it’s zionists first while pretending to be for mohammedens.