TIRANA, May 22 – Turkish Chief Prosecutor Mehmet Akarca, who visited Tirana this week, has asked his Albanian counterpart Adritatik Lalla and other Albanian law enforcement authorities for help in investigating suspicions that Turkish citizens involved in a failed coup last year are hiding in Albania.
Turkish law enforcement agencies suspect some of the people associated with the coup “might be hiding in Albania.
The request came during a meeting for increasing cooperation between both countries.
Llalla said he valued the cooperation with Turkey in the fight against organized crime and drug traffic, and suggested his counterpart to sign a bilateral agreement that would enable real-time exchange of investigation information.
It was the latest call in a series from Turkish officials on the matter. Last week Turkish Ambassador Hydayet Bayraktar requested Albanian authorities shut down 12 schools that Turkey believes are controlled by a network headed by U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gulen, whom the Turkish government believes to be behind the coup attempt.
In an interview for local media, Ambassador Bayraktar said that Albania tops the list of Balkan countries where the network, known in Turkey as FETO, and its leader Gulen are most organized.
Turkey believes that FETO’s leader for Balkans and his Fetullah Gulen’s nephew control 12 schools: two universities and ten elementary and high schools.
“We will chase them until we remove the last remaining member of FETO from Albania. We will continue to demand the removal of these elements from the Albanian territories, because they are a threat to our country, and we believe that they are a threat to Albania and Albanian families too,” the ambassador said.
In an op-ed published by U.S. media last week, Gulen again denied any ties to the coup in Turkey. The United States has so far not approved a Turkish request to extradite the cleric back to his native country.
