Turkey Funds Renovation Projects in Kosovo

The Pristina municipality on Tuesday signed a cooperation memorandum with the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, TIKA, to renovate the Elena Gjika elementary school, which was built at the beginning of the 20th century.

The renovation of the school, with its Austro-Hungarian architecture, will receive half of its funding from TIKA.

The renovation of the school is one of several projects that TIKA plans to support in Kosovo for 2018.

However the chief of TIKA's office in Kosovo, Hasan Burak Ceran, declined to say how much is being spent on supporting projects in the country.

"We as TIKA do not show these amounts," Ceran told BIRN.

"We have our reports that are seen by the two countries. I do not see it as a good thing to show the amount of how much we help the people of Kosovo," he added.

Neither Ceran nor the mayor of Pristina, Shpend Ahmeti, said how TIKA will spend on the renovation of the school either.

"We have a culture in which the hand that gives should not be seen by the other hand," said Ceran.

Ahmeti however said that the municipality will publish the agreement with the amount.

Ceran also mentioned other projects that are being supported by TIKA for 2018 in fields such as cultural heritage, agriculture and education.

"Pristina as the capital is important to us, but we also have projects in other municipalities," he said.

He added that TIKA will soon inaugurate projects in the municipalities of Mamusha/Mamusa, Gllogoc/Glogovac, Prizren, Gjakova/Djakovica and other places.

On June, TIKA signed a memorandum with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport for the restoration of two mosques, in Pristina and Prizren.

Carshia Mosque and the Mosque of Sultan Mehmet dating from...