Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
On the social media Facebook, on Wednesday (August 13), a content circulated claiming that Kosovo has been supplied by Turkey with 33 "BMC Vuran" military vehicles, and another 27 will arrive by the end of the year.
This claim was published by sites such as "Al-Press","Pristina News","Youth for Self-Determination”And“Diaspora with Albin".
What is the truth?
After online research conducted by hibrid.info, it turns out that there is no official announcement from institutions about the number of this type of weapons that Kosovo possesses and that the content published by the aforementioned sites is unverified.
Hibrid.info has searched Google with the keywords "Kosovo is supplied with 33 BM Vuran military vehicles from Turkey", but the results do not show any information published by credible sources that would confirm such a claim. (see here)
This is not the first time such a claim has been published on Facebook. In May 2024, the page “Diaspora me Albinin” had published a post with the same claim, which has also been treated by hybrid.info.
What is known so far about the supply of these military vehicles?
In July 2021, "evropaelire.org" wrote in sources that Kosovo has signed a contract with Turkey for the purchase of 14 armored military vehicles of the "Vuran" and "KIRPI" types. (see here)
Meanwhile, the Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported that the first export of Turkish armored vehicles of the "Vuran 4X4" type, produced in cooperation with defense firms in Turkey, will arrive in Kosovo. According to the 2021 report, the vehicle will be equipped with the 120-millimeter "Alkar" mortar system of the "Aselsan" company. (see here)
Just a month earlier (April 2024), the Minister of Defense, Ejup Maqedonci, in an interview with "Anadolu" confirmed that the KSF inventory includes "Vuran" vehicles with an integrated 120-millimeter mortar armament system. However, he did not mention any figures. (see here)
Analyze:
On August 13, claims were published on Facebook that Kosovo had been supplied with 33 “BMC Vuran” military vehicles by Turkey and that 27 more were expected to arrive by the end of the year. The posts were shared by several pages, but there is no official announcement or credible source confirming this.
According to verified data, it is only known that in July 2021 Kosovo signed a contract with Turkey for the purchase of 14 "Vuran" and "KIRPI" armored vehicles, and that in April 2024 the Minister of Defense confirmed the presence of several "Vuran" vehicles with 120 mm mortars, without giving figures.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this claim as "unverified content".
Reasoning:
The “Unverified” rating is given to those media reports that do not provide sufficient information to confirm the claims made in the report, and which have not been able to confirm the same due to the lack or non-possession of reliable sources.