Türkiye takes command of NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo PHOTO

On October 10, Türkiye took command of the NATO-led force in Kosovo for the first time against a backdrop of a volatile situation in the country's north and soaring tensions with former wartime rival Serbia.

Italian General Angelo Michele Ristuccia has handed over the command of NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) to Turkish Major General Özkan Ulutaş, Caliber.Az reports, citing a statement KFOR posted on social network X.

KFOR Commander, Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia 🇮🇹 handed over the command of the #NATO-led #KFOR mission in #Kosovo to his Turkish successor Major General Özkan Ulutaş 🇹🇷 during a ceremony held at Camp Film City in Pristina. pic.twitter.com/QY1kkGImrp

— NATO Kosovo Force - KFOR (@NATO_KFOR) October 10, 2023

“KFOR Commander, Italian Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia handed over the command of the NATO-led KFOR mission in Kosovo to his Turkish successor Major General Özkan Ulutaş during a ceremony held at Camp Film City in Pristina,” the post reads.

During a handover ceremony in Pristina on Tuesday, Turkish Major General Ozkan Ulutas said he was aware of the responsibility at the helm of KFOR in a "sensitive period that Kosovo is going through", a KFOR statement said.

He will be commanding the 4,500-strong KFOR, where troops are provided by 27 NATO and partner countries, for the next year.

Earlier, around 30 gunmen ambushed a police patrol in Banjska village near the northern border with Serbia in late September, killing a Kosovo police officer.

It was one of the most serious incidents in ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Belgrade still refuses to recognise the move.