Former Kosovo PM Bajram Rexhepi dies in Turkey after stroke

Bajram Rexhepi, Kosovo's former prime minister and interior minister, has died in a hospital in Turkey following a stroke. He was 63.

Prime Minister Isa Mustafa said in a statement that Rexhepi, a surgeon by profession, passed away in the early hours on Aug. 21 following months of battling a grave illness. He was taken to Turkey after a stroke in April.

Rexhepi, also ex-mayor of the northern city of Mitrovica, was among the independence fighters in the 1999 Kosovo War and was afterwards deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, or PDK, created by former independence fighters.

He had withdrawn from politics since 2010.

He was "the first prime minister after the first post-war elections," hailed Mustafa.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, and is still not recognized by Belgrade.