Turkish forces reinforce NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo following unrest.

A Turkish commando battalion has arrived in Kosovo to assist in quelling recent violent unrest in the Balkan country. The clashes grew out of an earlier confrontation after ethnic Albanian candidates who were declared the winners of local elections in northern Kosovo entered municipal buildings to take office and were blocked by Serbs. Ethnic Serbs overwhelmingly boycotted the votes. Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo’s sovereignty and has maintained close relations with the country since the late 1990s.