“Turkey lobbies for Kosovo recognition”

Source: Tanjug

ISTANBUL — Albanian President Bamir Topi has said Turkey is lobbying hard with other countries to get them to recognize Kosovo’s unilaterally declared independence.

“I had a chance to bring up the issue of the recognition of Kosovo’s independence with Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who informed me he discussed the issue with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff,” Topi said Wednesday after a visit to Turkey.

He told Istanbul-based daily Hurriyet that Brazil was among the 95 countries that still have not recognized Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence in 2008.

Along with Afghanistan and the U.S., Turkey was among the first to recognize Kosovo and has been trying to win support for its independence among Islamic countries. There have been unsuccessful attempts to pass a special resolution in the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

“The outlook is optimistic and we expect more countries will recognize the state of Kosovo,” Topi said in the interview.

When asked if there have been formal or informal talks about a possible union between Albania and Kosovo, the Albanian president said these were two countries which wanted to become members of the European Union.

“In a symbolic sense, the union of the two countries will happen in Brussels, just as it is happening with other countries,” he explained.

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