˝The Republic of Turkey... has decided to recognise the independence of the Republic of Kosovo,˝ Babacan said. Turkey has decided to recognise Kosovo as an independent state, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Monday, a day after the breakaway majority Albanian province declared its independence from Serbia.

"The Republic of Turkey... has decided to recognise the independence of the Republic of Kosovo," he said in a statement faxed to Reuters.

Turkey's recognition is symbolically important because Ottoman Turks ruled the Balkans, including Serbia and Kosovo, for centuries. Orthodox Christian Serbs still mourn their military defeat in Kosovo in 1389 at Muslim Turkish hands.

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