President Erdoğan: We want to soon achieve our $1-billion trade volume goal with Albania
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Edi Rama of Albania delivered remarks to reporters following their tête-à-tête and the meeting between the delegations.
Recalling that the houses built by Türkiye in the city of Laç for those whose homes had been destroyed in the 2019 earthquake were delivered earlier in the day, President Erdoğan noted that the 522 houses had been built in a record duration of 13 months, and said: “Thanks be to Allah, we have once again seen a concrete manifestation of the importance we attach to our brotherhood. We will hopefully continue to stand with Albania in good times and bad times from now on as well.”
“ET’HEM BEY MOSQUE IS AN EXEMPLARY MONUMENT”
Stating that the Hajji Et’hem Bey Mosque renovated by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) would also be inaugurated that day, President Erdoğan said: “Besides being a place of worship, Et’hem Bey Mosque is also an exemplary monument that contributes to the historical and touristic fabrics of the city of Tirana. Together with the historical clock tower from the Ottoman era next to it, the mosque is one of the most important extant cultural heritages of Tirana.”
Pointing out that all aspects of the relations between Türkiye and Albania were discussed at the talks, President Erdoğan noted: “We emphasized the importance of the putting into operation of the mechanism of the High Level Cooperation Council. We will hopefully hold the first meeting of the Council in the first part of this year.”
THE FIGHT AGAINST FETO
Underscoring that the fight against FETO terrorist organization was also on the agenda of the talks, President Erdoğan stated: “As you know, this terrorist organization staged an unsuccessful coup attempt on July 15, 2016, targeting our democracy. During that terrorist act, which we foiled thanks to our nation’s resistance, unfortunately our 251 citizens were despicably killed by FETO members and became martyrs.”
“That FETO can still find places of activity in friendly and brotherly Albania deeply hurts our people whose children had died a martyr’s death. It is our most sincere expectation that more concrete, more resolute and swifter steps be taken against the FETO structure in Albania,” the President said.
“THE BIGGEST INVESTOR IN ALBANIA WILL BE TÜRKİYE”
Stating that he discussed with Albanian Prime Minister Rama the economic relations between the two countries, President Erdoğan stressed: “Our trade volume reached some $853 million last year, having grown by nearly 68 per cent. Our goal is now to achieve our $1-billion trade volume goal in a short span of time. The biggest investor in Albania will be Türkiye, taking into account the contracting services as well. The total amount of our investments is 3.5 billion dollars. Over 600 companies of ours provide employment for nearly 15 thousand people. Obviously, we do not consider these figures to be sufficient, they should rise to much higher levels. I believe these figures will further increase with the strong support to be provided by Albanian officials.”
