Erdoğan calls on Albania to eliminate FETÖ elements

TIRANA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Jan. 17 called on Albanian authorities for more concrete steps needed against the FETÖ elements in the country.

“Our most sincere expectation is to take faster and concrete steps against the FETÖ structure in Albania in the coming period,” Erdoğan said, speaking at a joint press conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.

The two leaders signed several agreements in various areas, including disaster and emergency management, the media, state archives, culture and art, security and youth and sports.

The president said the fight against FETÖ was discussed during their meeting with the Albanian prime minister.

Erdoğan later addressed the Albanian Parliament where he reiterated Turkey’s call on the issue of the FETÖ group.

“The fight against the FETO terrorist organization is at the forefront of our sensitivities. Members of this organization are still present in Albania five years after the attempted coup,” he said.

“The sooner you get rid of this structure, which also poses a threat to Albania’s national security, the better you can look toward the future,” Erdoğan added.

A true friend is the one who does not hesitate to speak the truth, he said. “Have no doubts that they will reveal true faces when the time comes,” he added.

“We have lived this truth by paying a heavy price. I want our relations not to be overshadowed in this way by taking all-out action,” the president stated and expressed hope to make the next meeting with Albanian authorities “with this issue removed.”

Erdoğan also inaugurated new apartments funded by Turkey for Albanians left homeless by the 2019 earthquake.

Turkey has constructed a complex with 522 apartments worth 42 million euros ($48 million) in the northwestern town of Lac, 50 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of the capital Tirana.

In an international conference held less than two months after the earthquake struck on Nov. 26, 2019, which killed 51 people and left 17,000 homeless, more than a billion euros were committed to rebuilding homes, businesses and public buildings destroyed in the quake. Turkey was a major donor.

Last year, Turkey also built a new hospital to help Albania cope with the coronavirus pandemic.