Prime Minister Edi Rama today paid an official visit to Ankara, Turkey, at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Prime Minister Rama and the Albanian delegation were welcomed by President Erdoğan with state and military honors in front of the Presidential Complex. A series of important agreements were signed during the visit to take the strategic partnership and cooperation between the two countries to a whole new level.

 

Press statement by President Erdoğan and Prime Minister Rama:

*President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: Honourable Prime Minister, my dear friend Edi Rama!

Honourable cabinet members, dear members of the delegation, honourable media representatives! I greet you all with the most cordial feelings. I am very happy to welcome Prime Minister Edi Rama and his delegation in Ankara today and I want to express once again my joy for his presence here. I would like to again extend the Prime Minister and the delegation a warm welcome in Turkey.

Albania is a friendly and brotherly ally. For centuries, Turkey and Albania as two brotherly countries lived together, fought together and left indelible marks on history together. So, we are two brotherly nations. Traces of our centuries-old history are various broad areas from literature to art, intellectual life and architecture. Various traces of our shared history and culture are found today across Albania from Elbasan to Korça, from Shkodra to Vlore, so we have shared traces all over Albania. We deem it our duty to further strengthen these ties, inspired by ancient history.

At the meeting with Prime Minister Rama we discussed our bilateral ties comprehensively. We also just signed the joint political declaration on establishing the High-Level Cooperation Council. By signing the declaration, we elevated our relations to the level of strategic partnership. This step will enable us to further improve our cooperation in all areas.

At our meetings with Prime Minister Rama, in addition to the bilateral issues, we also focused on other regional issues concerning many areas, including culture, economic cooperation and what we can do. I mean, we exchanged ideas on what projects we can push forward in the future. Albania has just successfully completed the rotating Chairmanship of the OSCE and since January 1, the country has assumed the rotating Presidency of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). I wish Albania every success in this important assignment.

Dear media representatives!

Albania experienced two severe earthquakes, respectively on September 21 and November 26, 2019. The two earthquakes left tears, sufferings, devastation and pain in their wake and right after each of the tremors, we rushed to help our Albanian brothers. We mobilized all our means and capabilities from search and rescue to other assistance for the Albanian people. We made all our capacities available to our Albanian brothers. We also decided to build 552 housing units for our Albanian brothers, whose homes were destroyed by the earthquake. The groundbreaking ceremony for the houses to be built by the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ) was held on December 21, 2020. We hope that TOKI will complete the buildings and handed them over to our brothers in need in August, 2021. I believe those houses will be a new symbol of the shared fate of Turkey and Albania. I avail myself of this occasion to wish God’s mercy upon our Albanian brothers who lost their lives and extend my condolences to their families.

At our meeting with the Prime Minister, we have the opportunity to assess these issues and our economic relations. Turkey is Albania’s fourth largest trade partner. If contracting services are also taken into account, Turkey is the biggest foreign investor country in Albania with its $3.5-billion investments. We have over 600 companies operating in Albania, which provide jobs to nearly 15,000 Albanian brothers. We plan to increase our investments in Albania in the future, especially in infrastructure and tourism, in the period ahead. We envision to taking our economic cooperation to a new dimension.

We greatly value carrying the Ottoman-era historical buildings, which reflect our shared culture. Through the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), we have implemented over 500 restoration projects, worth nearly €20 million, in Albania. Our ministers of culture just signed the protocol for the restoration of the most important site, which is the Lead Mosque in Shkodra, which will be restored by the General Directorate of Foundations. I hope this project starts next spring.

Dear media representatives!

One of the main topics on our agenda was the fight against terror and cooperation in the areas of defense and military. We agree with the Albanian authorities that the FETÖ poses a threat to both our countries. We will not allow the FETÖ to poison the relations between the two countries. Turkey, with all its relevant institutions particularly the Maarif Foundation, stands with Albania. On this occasion, Maarif Foundation, which has acquired Tirana’s New York University, together with the Istanbul Technical University, the University’s rector will come here tomorrow and the initial steps will be taken towards cooperation between the two countries. Around 100 Albanian students are currently attending the Istanbul Technical University. Through this step, we have made a very significant step towards cooperation in the area of education with Albania.

Through these thoughts and on this occasion I want to wish that the general elections due to be held on April 25 be useful for Albania and the Albanian people.

Concluding, I would like to welcome once again my friend, Edi Rama and his delegation. Welcome and the floor is yours Mr. Rama.

Prime Minister Edi Rama: I would like thank from the bottom of my heart the President of the Republic of Turkey and my friend for this unforgettable hospitality! Although this is not the first time I visit friendly Turkey, but through this hospitality, all of us together as a delegation from Albania, we could see the expression of a strong will to open a new chapter in relations between the two countries, between two states and two governments.

I am grateful to the President for the tête-à-tête meeting and the precious time he devoted to a considerable set of issues, but first and foremost, I want to express here my gratitude to him and to the Turkish people for the prompt response in support of Albania, being on the side of families affected by the tragic earthquake of November 26 last year, while another earthquake had rattled Albania just two months earlier. President Erdoğan was the first to publicly and globally involve in the post-earthquake reconstruction process and, indeed, he paved the way for a whole process of involvement of many others, who raised a significant contribution to Albania and the quake-affected families.

On the other hand, I would also like to highlight the fact that the solidarity demonstrated by the friendly Turkey and President Erdoğan was not merely a solidarity shown not only when Turkey was not facing a problem of its own, but also when this problem was just ours. But also when Turkey, just like us, just like the whole world was hit by the coronavirus, the President and the Republic of Turkey stood by Albania and did not act like some others who, just like they told people to stay at home, they locked up their states and banned even sending medical aid to those in need.

This has been very significant for us, as it is very significant the fact that one of the topics of today’s discussion was the close cooperation between the two countries and in this case, the support of the President of the Republic of Turkey for Albania throughout the process of this ongoing war against this invisible enemy, without sparing and keeping its eyes only on itself, within the borders of Turkey. I believe that the attitude of the Republic of Turkey towards us and President Erdoğan’s approach during situations when countries like ours are in trouble, are the embodiment of that unforgettable quote by  Kemal Ataturk, who once said: “Mankind is a single body and each nation a part of that body.”

Although Turkey was hit by earthquakes, even though Turkey was forced to deal with its own wounds, over which I have extended  my condolences to the President since the very beginning and I want to reiterate it today, this did not stop for a second the project, a considerable, that is already underway under his auspices and under the constant supervision of the minister, our friend Murat, who despite the many things he has to do here, where he should also deal with reconstruction in the wake of the earthquakes that hit Turkey, he found time to travel to Tirana and be constantly present in all our discussions.

Solidarity and responding to such events reflect the very essence of this relation, the essence of humanism at the core of this relationship. And today I am really proud for being granted this opportunity and privilege to sign here, on behalf of the Republic of Albania, with President Erdoğan the declaration on establishing the High-Level Cooperation Council, which takes our declared strategic partnership to the level of an intergovernmental institutional relation.

On the other hand, the greatest value I see in the signed agreements and in this visit is the readiness to set up joint groups and to work closely together to overcome all bureaucratic barriers and all obstacles of the relations between the two states themselves, thus functioning as body that sees and designs and cooperates in the same direction. The potential is definitely huge. I am very pleased that the President, during the conversation, expressed his readiness and not only through words, but also by following directly at the moment those aspects of the conversation related to what we have talked about before regarding some important interventions in the areas of tourism, health, and education. I believe that it is great news for Albanian youth that a university like the famed Istanbul technical University, where a generation of Albanian students have excelled, will be soon present in Albania.

I am also happy that the Fier Regional Hospital will be a reality soon. Now, given that gambling in Turkey and Albania is prohibited by law, we could not bet with the President, but the President’s bet that the Fier Regional Hospital will complete in three months is a very strong bet.

I would have gladly lost this bet, but the odds I win it are also high, given that both Turkish and Albanians should be pushed constantly, when it comes to implementation.

Thank you very much Mr. President! I am really very grateful on behalf of the whole delegation for this hospitality, for this precious time made available and of course, also for the willingness to be together again for dinner that you have generously offered us in this so hospitable environment. I want to thank all the members of your delegation, from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, a precious and long-time friend of Albania, to Murat and others, and I am convinced that today, we have taken a step, the fruits of which both Albanians and Turkish will see materialized soon.

Thank you very much!

President of Turkey, Erdoğan: I thank Mr. Prime Minister and I would like to specifically comfort and tell him that we have been built two 1008-room hospitals at the Yeşilköy in Istanbul and Sancaktepe and Fier regional hospital is just a sand granule compared to the huge hospital complexes we have already built. We should also bear in mind the fact that we will fully equip them in the technical aspect, with the necessary equipment.

Our hospitals in Istanbul, for example, have 18 operating theatres. Understandably, Fier regional will have a smaller number of operating theatres. So, it is not a problem at all and our Ministry of Health will soon dispatch the respective medical staff, including doctors, nurses or other medical workers and technicians to train their Albanian colleagues, who will work at Fier hospital. As a result, Albania will have this hospital fully operational very soon and it will provide care services to the Albanian people.

As for the project related to Istanbul Technological University, as you know, it is a university that has been taken over by our education foundation. It won’t be a joint venture, but Istanbul Technical University will be founded in Tirana too, together with the academic staff and needed equipment. This will certainly be a significant achievement for Albania, since 100 Albanian students are still attending the Istanbul Technical University. This cooperation and the High Level Cooperation Council between the two countries that we signed today will be implemented.

I once again wish you it be useful for all of us!

PM Rama: Mr. President, so April 7 means three months from now.

President Erdoğan: It will complete ahead of the elections.

PM Rama: Elections are not important, as they are completely different else. As many as 4.2 million people are registered in Albania. If we are not to consider kids, who don’t know counting, it means tht you will face a total of 3 million regular supervisors, who will monitor every step whether President Erdoğan completed the project by April 7.

Now you have placed a very large bet and I wish you deliver on it.

 

*Simultaneous interpretation