EVALUATION OF NATO INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO BY CRITERIA OF RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT

Year 2021, Issue: 2, 38 - 59, 31.08.2021

Mustafa Burak Şener

Abstract

Yugoslavya Sosyalist Federal Cumhuriyeti’nin (YSFC) dağılma sürecinde önce Hırvatistan’da ardından Bosna’da (1992-1995) başlayan kanlı savaş daha sonrasında Kosova’ya yayıldı. 1998 yılına gelindiğinde, Kosova’da Arnavut milis güçleri, Kosova Kurtuluş Ordusu ve Yugoslavya kimliği altındaki Sırp ordusu, polisi ve milis güçleri arasında bir iç savaş çıktı. Uluslararası kuruluşların arabuluculuk çabalarının başarısızlığı sonucunda Kuzey Atlantik Antlaşması Örgütü (NATO), artan sivil ölümleri ve artan saldırıları durdurmak için 24 Mart 1999’da askeri müdahaleye başladı. NATO’nun bu müdahalesi hem siyasi hem de akademik boyutlarda tartışmalara yol açtı, ancak Kosova’ya İlişkin Bağımsız Uluslararası Komisyon tarafından “yasadışı ama meşru” olarak tanımlandı. Yapıldığı günden bu yana tartışılan NATO müdahalesinin ardından 2001 yılında Uluslararası Müdahale ve Devlet Egemenliği Komisyonu (ICISS) tarafından hazırlanan raporla Koruma Sorumluluğu kavramı hayata geçirildi. Koruma Sorumluluğu raporuna göre, askeri bir müdahalenin meşru kabul edilmesi için altı kriter belirlenmiştir. Raporda ayrıca NATO’nun Kosova’ya müdahalesinin bu kavramın doğmasına katkıda bulunduğu belirtilmiştir. Literatürde birçok araştırmacı bunun NATO’nun Kosova’ya müdahalesini haklı göstermek için olduğunu iddia etmektedir. Ancak buradaki sorun NATO’nun Kosova’ya müdahalesinin rapordaki kriterlere uygun ve meşru olup olmadığıdır. Bu çalışmada, Kosova müdahalesi, askeri müdahaleyi meşru kılan Koruma Sorumluluğu kriterleri üzerinden değerlendirilecek ve müdahalenin bu ilkelere ne kadar uygun olduğu incelenecektir.

Keywords

Kosova, Koruma Sorumluluğu, İnsani Müdahale, NATO, Meşruiyet

EVALUATION OF NATO INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO BY CRITERIA OF RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT

Abstract

During the breakup process of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), the bloody war started first in Croatia and then in Bosnia (1992-1995), then spread to Kosovo. By 1998, a civil war broke out in Kosovo between the Albanian militia forces, the Kosovo Liberation Army, and the Serbian army, police, and militia forces under the identity of Yugoslavia. As a result of the failure of the mediating efforts by the international organizations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had commenced military intervention on March 24, 1999, to stop the increasing civilian deaths and increasing attacks. This intervention of NATO has sparked discussions in both political and academic dimensions but is defined by the Independent International Commission on Kosovo (IICK) as “illegal but legitimate”. Following the NATO intervention, which has been under discussion since the day it was made, the concept of Responsibility to Protect has been accomplished in 2001 with the report prepared by the International Commission for Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS). According to the Responsibility to Protect report, it has set six criteria for a military intervention to be considered legitimate. The report also mentioned that NATO’s intervention in Kosovo contributed to the birth of this concept. In the literature, many scholars claim that is to justify NATO’s intervention in Kosovo. However, the question here is whether NATO’s intervention in Kosovo is in line with the criteria in the report and is legitimate. In this study, Kosovo intervention is evaluated on the Criteria of Responsibility to Protect, which legitimizes military intervention, and examined how appropriate the intervention is to the principles.

Keywords

Kosovo, Responsibility to Protect, Humanitarian intervention, NATO, Legitimacy.

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