By Zoran CULAFIC

SLUG: Once they were governing the Balkans countries, today the Turks in Kosovo are one of the many minority communities. Following the recent armed conflict, Turks like the other minority groups are struggling to survive economically and socially in Kosovo.

Prizren is one of the most picturesque cities in Kosovo: Cobble stone streets and Turkish architecture line the Bistrica river, which runs through the city center. To those who visit the city, it is almost as if one has stepped back in time.

Today, Prizren is a sort of commercial center in the fragile Kosovo economy-- home to a modest textile industry, renowned woodworkers and silversmiths. Most notably, Prizren has a mixture of Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim inhabitants, lending to a rich diversity of culture.

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Prizren is filled with a wide and diverse range of cultural and religious monuments. No visitor can miss the Cathedral Church of Lady Ljeviska, built in 1307 on the foundations of a destroyed Byzantine basilica. Sinan-pasha's Mosque, built in 1615 during the (Turkish Occupation), with its tall, slender minaret, is widely acknowledged as the most beautiful of the 20 or so mosques which dot the city.

Also belonging to the Turkish period is a well-preserved Turkish bath, which now houses an Art gallery, and a beautiful old stone bridge spanning the Bistrica River.

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And today Prizren is also a center for the Turkish community in Kosovo

Altaj Suroy is a writer and public prosecutor in Prizren and he tells UNMIK on Air that Kosovo Turks, along with other minority communities, face a number of obstacles when it comes to asserting the needs of its community.

Suroy points to UNMIK regulations, which mandate Turkish as one of the official languages in Kosovo. Even so, Suroy says problems often arise because personal identification cards are still not written in their mother tongue, Turkish.

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But there are schools in Kosovo, which use the Turkish language during instruction, from primary school to the university level. Most of these Turkish language schools are in and around Prizren, but Altaj Suroy says the curriculum is narrow:

Suroy – “There are schools in Turkish language here, beginning from the primary and secondary (high) schools and all the way to university. But the Turks in Kosovo have an opportunity to study only at cathedra for Turkish language and literature at Pristina University and at Teachers faculty in Prizren, and that’s all. So it means they could be just experts for Turkish language and teachers. “

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Altaj Suroy acknowledges that students do have the opportunity to continue more comprehensive studies at universities in Turkey, but laments those opportunities do not exist in Kosovo.

However, Prizren has economic ties to businessman from Turkey, which have invested in the city’s economy over the years.

Despite such modest economic boosts, the high rate of unemployment is a common problem for all Kosovo’s citizens… Turks included….

Suroy – “There is huge unemployment rate amongst Turkish community members and the majority of them are so called intellectuals and people who are not skilled in some handicrafts. Particularly these who used to work in administration and journalists, nineteen percent of them are unemployed.”

As communities struggle economically- these financial woes only serve to aggravate ethnic tensions in the region. The international focus of these ethnic tensions has been mainly concentrated on the Kosovo Albanian and Kosovo Serb communities—often overlooking the needs of smaller ethnic groups in Kosovo, like the Turks.

Ethem Baymak is a painter living in Prizren and he says this neglect is nothing new. Even before the latest war, Baymak says, the overall focus of ethnic interactions mainly concentrated on the relations between Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs.

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Nevertheless, Turks and other minority communities are in a unique position to help bridge ethnic divides in Kosovo, according to Ethem Baymak:

Baymak – “My first neighbor were aunt Jela (old Serb woman) and our families visited each other. They were coming to visit us on Bayram, and we were going to see them on Orthodox Christmas. With the Albanians we have religious ties (links) as well as with Bosniacks. That’s why I believe Kosovo, and Prizren particularly, are very suitable places for living together again. I believe that the euphoria will cease, these political games are transient, and the most important thing is to be a human, to live together as humans live. The ethnic origin must be put at the margins and I think the new world order is asking right that, so then there will be no problems to live together.”

Due to the fragile economic situation in Kosovo, a number of Turks share the opinion with others in Kosovo, that there is little hope for a bright economic future. Altay Suroy says this has prompted a quiet and slow emigration of Turks from Kosovo in recent years:

Suroy – “We are following these facts and everyone knows who emigrated, how many members of a family, and where are they now. Yet it is not present in the public and people do not know about this phenomenon nor it is registered officially.

As the younger generation seeks economic opportunities outside of Kosovo, some in the older generation are able to sustain themselves working with traditional crafts, such as jewelry making. But without a real backbone industry to support communities, Suroy says there is no guarantee of survival. Instead, Suroy says Turks in Prizren are trying to eek out some sort of living with the little they have:

Suroy – “Talking about the handicrafts, there is a tradition in making various types of home knifes, scissors and similar things, that craft is still alive because people need it. Then we have tailors and production of caps and shoemakers and balers and production of blankets etc … not to talk about small restaurants and pastry shops.”

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Suroy – “There is a traditional production of quilts, it is very good business here, then we have carpenters producing all the furniture and kitchen elements and many other … thanks to these handicrafts a part of the population has work and earns monthly income.“

But as Kosovo is struggling to rebuild its economy and integrate its society, Painter Ethem Baymak believes poets, writers, and artists in Kosovo should take a more prominent role in restructuring the region’s society. Baymak says the influence of the Arts in education and culture could be an important catalyst in the reconciliation process.

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With the many ethnic communities living in Kosovo, the region has no choice but to rebuild an open, tolerant society. Baymak calls on artists and poets to help break down some of the divides, which exist between people and cultures here.

Baymak - “That was our shame but after all what happened and what we have done each to other, we can tell the world – look we can live together again. Because the Balkans people always gave to the world some positive things. So if I say that Balkans is a center of the future of the world I believe that I’d not make a mistake. I think that Balkans must take off its bloody clothes and take a bath in clean water then dress in a clean suit. The recent past would be marked as a dark period in world history, but the Balkans could lead the world towards a better vision of the future.”

And this concludes this edition of UNMIK on Air, thank you for listening and stay tuned.