Zeytinburnu, June 2, 2024
While in Turkey, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, met with the diaspora community at the “Cultural Center in Zeytinburnu/Zeytinburnu Kültür Merkezi”.
He highlighted to the audience that our connection with Turkey is solid, extensive, and profound, with both historical and cultural roots.
“Our goal is to further develop our excellent relationships with the Republic of Turkey, especially in two key areas: in the economy and trade on one hand, and in defense and security on the other,” Prime Minister Kurti added.
Notified of Kosovo’s progress up to now, the Prime Minister stated that the four key areas where we have made the largest investments are: security, agriculture, education, and healthcare. In terms of security, he brings up the soldiers and officers of our military, a significant number of whom are currently undergoing training in the Republic of Turkey to enhance their readiness for safeguarding the security of the Republic of Kosovo.
“Dear compatriots, we are interested in you visiting Kosovo as often as possible, there are daily flights from several cities, but we do not ask you to come and sacrifice to contribute, but to come and invest to gain. Come and invest in Kosovo, all of you who are entrepreneurs and have a branch of your business here,” was one of the main calls of the Prime Minister at this meeting, inviting them to be part of Kosovo’s current development.
The Prime Minister mentioned that our diaspora is a great channel for many new and important collaborations between Kosovo and Turkey, as well as Albania, North Macedonia, the Preshevo Valley, and Montenegro.
“Truly, Albanians across the Balkans have the potential to establish bridges of economic, trade, and cultural cooperation with you here, similar to how the Turks in Kosovo serve as a link between Kosovo and Turkey,” the Prime Minister further added.
Prime Minister Kurti’s upcoming visit will be followed by his attendance at the first economic forum between Kosovo and Turkey, presenting an opportunity to strengthen economic cooperation and increase trade exchanges and foreign investments.
Prime Minister Kurti’s full speech:
I am present here among you and I am grateful that some have allocated their work time while others their leisure time to unite us.
I extend my thanks to the Mayor of the Municipality, Mr. Arısoy, for the gracious hospitality and I extend my appreciation to Mr. Naser for the coordination, as well as to my colleagues, whether they are from our Government in Kosovo, from our Consulate here in Istanbul, or from our Embassy and Cultural Center in Ankara.
It’s been five years since I’ve been in Bayram Pasha, and Zeytinburnu doesn’t seem all that different either. Plenty of Albanians over there and plenty of Albanians here, undoubtedly warming our hearts.
While we were at the Cultural Center, which bears the name of Sami Frashëri, Shemsedin Bej Frashëri, we were celebrating his birthday, as he was born on June 1, 1850, not forgetting that precisely in the month of June, on June 18, we also mark the 120th anniversary of his death, but between these two, we have this year the 125th anniversary of his main work, “Albania what it was, what it is, and what it will become,” which is the manifesto of the Albanian nation.
That book from 1899, not only showed us the geopolitical and security situation, but also showed us where we should go and which way to go.
Hence, the work of Sami Frashëri needs to be studied and revisited by everyone everywhere and at all times, as it was the work of a progressive scholar who, even then, advocated for all girls to attend school and for those without means to pay for notebooks or cards, as he referred to them, in schools where young students sit at desks, then it will be incumbent upon the state, the system, education, to provide for them, so that no child is left without schooling and especially so that girls attend school.
Our connection with Turkey is solid, extensive, and profound, with both historical and cultural roots.
We aim to further advance our excellent relations with the Republic of Turkey, especially in two areas: in the fields of economy and trade on one hand, and in defense and security on the other.
For this, in Ankara we had very fruitful meetings with the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with his deputy, Cevdet Yılmaz, with the Minister of National Defense, Yaşar Güler and also with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan.
Kosovo has become a champion country in the Balkans in terms of democratic progress and rule of law. Over the past three years, we have seen an average economic growth of 6.2 percent of the gross domestic product. Moreover, we have increased both foreign direct investments and our exports twofold, and our growth has not been confined to the state, but has been distributed among the people. Our government has implemented new child benefits and maternity leave for mothers for the first time, we have doubled youth employment and concentrated on women and girls, leading to 12 thousand of them being employed as a result of economic growth and development in our country.
Employment has increased by 20 percent from the beginning of 2021 to the beginning of 2024, and we have added 1 billion Euro to our economy each year, previously it took three years for 1 billion Euro. We are advancing with increasingly faster steps.
We have also found debts when we came to power. Unpaid invoices for various economic operators have been cut from 140 million Euro to only 33 million Euro over a three-year period.
Currently, Kosovo’s public debt stands at approximately 17 percent of the local gross domestic product, allowing us to engage in successful negotiations for soft loans for Kosovo’s development.
Four key areas where we have prioritized significant investments include: defense and security, agriculture, education, and healthcare.
As for defense, we have boosted the soldier count by 1852 over three years, introduced 600 new soldiers this year, doubled the defense budget, tripled the armament budget, and quadrupled overseas training for our soldiers and officers, a significant number of whom are in the Republic of Turkey learning, studying, training, and practicing, to enhance their preparedness for the defense and security of their homeland, the Republic of Kosovo.
We have raised the age of soldiers from 23 to 25 and equipped our army with increasingly modern weaponry. We bought Bayraktar drones from Turkey and Javelin anti-tank missiles from America. In schools, we are introducing the subject of Security Education, but we are also implementing comprehensive defense or total defense so that if our homeland is threatened, every citizen will have their role, function in defense and security. Both comprehensive protection and safety education in schools are crucial for our country, and our Government has already begun working on implementing these.
With a 216% increase in subsidies, we aim to prevent land from being left uncultivated. Instead, the land should be worked on, planted with grains, trees, and vegetables. The more effort we put into the land, the stronger the bond between citizens and the territory. We must love our country, and one way to love our country is to work our land and have our bread on our table from the fields of our Republic.
We combat corruption in all areas, at all levels. Our government is a government of ministers with conscience and clean hands, who save the state budget and not themselves, work day and night, without reserve, because we must strengthen our state and enrich our people. We are a Government that loves rich people, not rich politicians.
Public education is provided for free because we believe that education is a right, citizens should have the right to be educated without payment, and in this sense public education at all levels including universities is free. 10,200 student scholarships, with 5,170 being elite scholarships, particularly for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, 4,880 the majority for girls and women. Half of the students in Kosovo studying technology, engineering, mathematics, and science are women. The average in the European Union is 17%, in Kosovo it’s 50%.
Dear compatriots, we are interested in you visiting Kosovo as often as possible, there are daily flights from several cities, but we do not ask you to come and sacrifice to contribute, but to come and invest to gain. Come and expand your business in Kosovo, all of you who are entrepreneurs and have a branch of your business.
Kosovo offers very favorable conditions for entrepreneurs, let’s say 0% is the tax for exports, for the import of production machinery it is also 0%, there are no dividends for corporate profits, it is only a 10% tax on corporate profits and at the same time we have excellent youth where everyone speaks English, a good portion of them also speak German, and the average age is 31 years.
Rents are cheap, electricity, electricity is cheap, love is also great.
The Government will continue its reforms, ensuring justice for the population, while also focusing on economic investments. Our aim is to reach 7 billion in investments over the next six years of this decade. 3 billion in transport, 2 billion in energy, and 2 billion in the environment. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and us have signed a memorandum of cooperation earlier this year for various projects over the next three years amounting to 400 million Euro, indicating Europe’s trust in Kosovo’s future.
Our invitation to you is not about investing to enable development, but rather about involving you in the current development so that you can also enjoy and benefit, while also accelerating development.
Today, Kosovo is not in a crisis of development. In Kosovo today, there will be even greater and faster development, and for this, we see the solution in you, in you who return to your homeland.
In Western European countries, there are states where Albanians number in the thousands, there are states where they number in the tens of thousands, most states have tens of thousands of Albanians in Europe, there are some states with hundreds of thousands, but here in Turkey, Albanians number in the millions.
The potential is huge. You serve as an outstanding link for extensive and innovative collaborations between Kosovo and Turkey, as well as between Albania, North Macedonia, the Preshevo Valley, and Montenegro. Indeed, Albanians across the Balkans have the potential to establish bridges of economic, trade, and cultural cooperation with you here, similar to how the Turks in Kosovo serve as a link between Kosovo and Turkey.
Minister Fikrim Damka is in my team, Emilija Rexhepi represents the Bosnian community as my deputy, and Elbert Krasniqi serves as the minister from the Egyptian community. We have exceptional relationships with all communities. I also have a Serbian minister, Nenad Rashiq. There are challenges with Serbia because they do not recognize our independence and do not accept the crimes committed by Milosevic, which are war crimes, humanity crimes, and genocidal acts. We will never remain silent about this and will always seek justice for the victims. They killed 10 thousand unarmed, defenseless civilians. 1133 children were killed 25 years ago, 20 thousand women and girls have been raped. They reject these matters and furthermore refuse to accept the Republic of Kosovo’s existence as an independent, sovereign, democratic state that excels in the Balkans in terms of democratic progress and rule of law. We are not against the Serbs, Serbia is against us, but we will rise and progress.
Five years ago, when I was at Bajram Pasha, it was a time when I didn’t have bodyguards like today. While taking a casual walk on a street in Bajram Pasha, I passed by a store window, saw a pair of shoes I liked, and decided to stop and make a purchase. I spoke in English, unfortunately I don’t know Turkish, I spoke in English with that guy who was selling there until he found me the exact number of shoes that fit me. After I bought them, before I left, I asked him where you are from, which country in Turkey. He told me that he is a local there, of Bajram Pasha. I said “good, what’s your name?”. “Ergyn”. I mentioned that “Ergyn name is also present in Kosovo”. While he said “Yes, I am from Gostivar”. Many people we are meeting were born here, to some their mother and father, to some their grandmother and grandfather, to some their great-grandmother and great-grandfather, come from places inhabited by Albanians in Turkey. It is important that as many of them come to Kosovo. Many know Turkish very well, but they should also learn Albanian. Since I came to Turkey, I have to start learning more and more words, because no matter the age, a person learns as long as they live.
We will have a Kosovo-Turkey business forum tomorrow. This is the first forum in independent Kosovo organized here in Istanbul, and we aim to attract more investors from Turkey to Kosovo, increase the trade exchange to over 1 billion, and at the same time enhance these cultural bridges, not only with Sami Frashëri, but to add more.
I visited the grave of Sami Frashëri as well. I saw that his son, the founder of Galatasaray, had a tomb even bigger than his father’s. Of course we have nothing against Fenerbahçe. We wish success to both parties and Turkish investors who want to come to Kosovo, whether they are fans of Galatasaray or Fenerbahçe, both sides are equally welcome.
Finally, I extend my thanks to all of you for your participation today, as well as for the role, commitment, and contribution you have provided to the Albanians before the war, during the war, after the war, before the declaration of independence, after the declaration of independence, the contribution you have offered yesterday, today, and will offer tomorrow. For this tomorrow, you have my assurance that I will assist you, support you, and stand by you with all my knowledge and ability. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
Last modified: June 10, 2024