TIRANA, Oct. 19 – Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut à‡avusoglu called for Albania to hand in FETO-related individuals living in the country during a press conference with Albanian counter-part Ditmir Bushati.
“We request the termination of any anti-Turkish state activity happening here. We have given our Albanian friends a list of names, we have also officially asked for their extradition . We would never host Albanian terrorists, and I expect the same of Albania,” he said.
Bushati replied by saying Albania’s stand remains the same as in 2016, when, allegedly, Fetullah Gylen and other FETO-related individuals attempted a coup d’etat against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Albania’s answer is the same we’ve given to Turkey but also the international community. Albania has been one of the first countries that expressed solidarity to Turkey concerning the coup d’etat. But, on the other side, Albania is a NATO member, a EU candidate and has adhered to a number of important international dispositions in the extradition field and any kind similar policy must be pursued in diplomatic ways, and not in press conferences,” Bushati said.
According to à‡avusoglu, Albania should also shut off all FETO-related institutions operating here, in addition to the “FETO terrorists,” who he claims have even infiltrated the Albanian state system.
The FETO-related institutions mainly refer to educational institutions in Albania belonging to Gylen.
“There is an extremely serious FETO structure in Albania, in every area. As in other countries, they have used the education system in particular, have penetrated very well inside the state system. We can not take more steps. This terrorist organization is an open and large threat against Turkey as well. They are not alone, well know how they operate. We know there are elements of FETO here and we expect something from our friend, Albania. We expect to close the institutions that conduct anti-Turkish activities in Albania,” à‡avusoglu said.
A large number of Turkish colleges, kindergartens and elementary schools opened in Albania since 1992. Through the years, they expanded by becoming high schools and universities which led to the birth of a new class in the society able to afford this service. Turkey believes that FETO’s leader for Balkans and Fetullah Gulen’s nephew control 12 schools: two universities and ten elementary and high schools, and that the children of many politicians, state officials and influential people were enrolled in these schools.
Meanwhile, Gulen himself has been living in the US since the 1990’s.
Albanian-Turkish relations have never been peripheric to Albania’s foreign policy and both countries have had good relations.
A clear indicator of the good bilateral relations between the two countries are the numbers, which speak for themselves – in 2017, Turkey was one of Albania’s top five trading partners, with a trade volume of 460 million dollars.
Some of the most major Turkish investments in Albania are in the banking system, energy sector and air transportation.Meanwhile, the stock of Turkish FDI to Albania, at €565 million in mid-2018, represents about 8 percent of total FDI stock in Albania, according to Albania’s central bank.
Turkey has supported Albania on EU-related matters as both countries have shared EU membership aspirations.
