Independence of the republic of kosovo and the state building process

Kosovo is an important region for both the Serbians and the Albanians. Kosovo, being in the Ottoman territories until 1912, was later conquered by the Serbians however it was deemed as an autonomous land under the control of Yugoslavia after the World War II. However, riots started also with the effect of financial difficulties after Tito's death in Kosovo, which was still under the ruling of Serbia, and these riots were suppressed gorily. After Kosovo's right of self-government was taken away in 1989, the Kosovo Republic was proclaimed in 1991 and relations with Serbia were broken off. At the end of the period in which USA, NATO and United Nations joined the peace process, the independence of Kosovo Republic was recognized by many countries, Turkey and USA being in the first place. The European Union supports Kosovo in economic, political and social aspects today. In addition to the process leading to Kosovo's independence, NATO's interference in Kosovo and its legal consequences were addressed in this study. Moreover, the effect of Kosovo's independence in the Balkans and in global terms was also discussed. Furthermore, Kosovo's local government structure was addressed within the scope of UNMIK and Decentralization, in line with the state building process and Kosovo's institutional structure was evaluated. The sense of independence, political, social, economic states and expectations of communities with different ethnicities living in Kosovo and the participants in public institutions/administration and their opinions regarding the effects of Turkey and other countries on Kosovo were analyzed. According to the findings obtained from the interviews evaluated within the scope of 3 main themes, it was stated that the Albanians were subjected to Serbian tortures before Kosovo gained its independence, that they lost their jobs, were discriminated and had to immigrate. As of Kosovo's starting to be a Republican administration, it was also determined that the public started to express themselves politically. It was concluded that Kosovo's process of state building within the scope of local authority was rather pursued through UNMIK. It was determined that in social and cultural terms, the policies of Kosovo government to sustain respect and culture aimed at minorities were pleasing. When the findings regarding the countries' effects in Kosovo's independence process were studied, it was also found that Turkey's, UN's and EU's supports were in the forefront other than the USA's active role. It was also noted that Russia's relationships with Kosovo were broken down. It was concluded that, the problems between Serbians and Albanians still persists due to the Kosovo conflict and that Kosovo public's efforts to institutionalize continues in terms of having a say in Europe. Keywords: Kosovo, Independence, UNMIK, Communities of Kosovo, State Building, Balkans.