Prime Minister Edi Rama held a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after their official meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara.
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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: Dear Prime Minister, my dear friend Edi Rama,
Honourable ministers,
honourable members of the government delegations, and representatives of the media!
I would like to extend my warmest wishes and heartfelt greetings! I am very happy to welcome the Prime Minister of Albania, Mr. Rama, and his delegation for the first meeting of the Türkiye-Albania High Level Cooperation Council in Ankara.
Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Albania.
Our multifaceted cooperation continues to further develop on the basis of the strategic partnership we have announced together with Prime Minister Rama here in Ankara in 2021.
At today’s meeting of our Council, we reaffirmed our commitment to take our relations to a whole new level.
During the meetings, I reiterated the importance Türkiye attaches to the development of Albania and its support for increasing the welfare of the Albanian people. With the agreements we signed, we strengthened the legal basis of our cooperation.
We have increased our bilateral trade volume to some 1 billion dollars, and have set our new goal as 2 billion dollars. I believe that with our private sector’s efforts, we will reach this figure in a short span of time.
Türkiye, with its investments that approximate 3.5 billion dollars, is among the top five foreign investors in Albania. Over 600 Turkish companies contribute to the country’s economy by generating jobs for more than 15 thousand Albanian citizens.
We will continue to work to increase our mutual investments and to further improve the ties between our business worlds. We will continue to provide our support for development projects in Albania through TIKA agency.
The agreement we signed a few days ago on the status of TIKA Program Coordination Office in Tirana will further strengthen our cooperation.
Thank God we delivered and kept our promise to build the friendship hospital in Fier in three months’ time. We will continue to jointly run this hospital, where patients from regions across Albania are treated.
We will continue to stand with the Albanian people during their trying days as well as good ones.
Dear media representatives,
Together with Mr. Prime Minister we also exchanged views on the developments in the region and around the world.
Türkiye and Albania are two NATO allies contributing to the preservation of peace and stability in the Balkans. We will intensify our dialogue with Albania regarding the Balkans. We are determined to further deepen the close cooperation with Albania in the defense industry and military area and the signed Military Framework Agreement is the most concrete manifestation of this determination.
Albania will make significant contributions to the activities of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, for which it took over the term presidency from Türkiye.
For the invaluable contribution Mr. Prime Minister has made to the strengthening of Türkiye -Albania relations, on my personal behalf and that of my people, I thank him and may God protect and strengthen this relationship, and I thank my friend Rama and his delegation once again for the visit. I am giving the floor to Mr. Rama.
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Prime Minister Edi Rama: Thank you so much for the kind words, yet I can’t help but make a clarification.
Mr. President, I can’t help but clarify that we didn’t bet on the hospital construction project, because betting is banned by law in Türkiye, while it is allowed online only in Albania. I remember pretty well telling you that I can’t bet, but you bet with Albanians, who know quite well that it is “it’s said, it’s done” when you make a promise and that hospital, I think, was the first public investment in the world with 3 million supervisors , every day, and you won the bet with the Albanians.
Having this said, I would like to publicly thank you also for the reception and I would like to note, probably reiterate it, but anytime it is about their relations with Türkiye, Albanians, Albania and Kosovo cannot forget three things that, I am convinced, will forever remain in the national memory.
First, thanks to you and your government, Kosovo was recognized as an Independent Republic just a few minutes after its parliament declared independence.
Second, when Albania was hit by a devastating earthquake, you were the first to call and tell me that Albania will never be alone as long as Türkiye will be there and you launched the public initiative to immediately begin 500 new apartments.
Third, when Albania and Albanian people, together with other people in our region, the Western Balkans, felt like a fish out of water, when the world was hit by the coronavirus and while we were watching the launch of the vaccination campaign on the European TV channels, God knows how many people would have died if it was not for Türkiye and for you personally. These are three life-and-death situations that can never be forgotten.
Of course, there is much to say. You cited the hospital project, but, as far as I know, apart from building it in record time, it’s not your only record in your public affairs.
We are pleased to see progress, as you also said, regarding involvement of Maarif Foundation in Albania and we are looking forward to seeing finalization of the project on opening the Istanbul Technical University in Tirana, a jewel of Turkish education, which will allow Albanian students and their peers from other countries in the region to access a leading university in the world.
We have made progress and we are determined to make even more progress in defense and security areas. I am very happy, Mr. President, not only because over ten million foreign tourists visited Albania last year, but also because the number of Turkish visitors to Albania rose 30% and we see a great potential in this aspect.
I am convinced that you are not upset when Turkish visitors come to Albania instead of going to Antalya and I am sure that your Minister of Tourism will promote tourism investments, since Türkiye has built a level of excellence in the tourism sector too and for us Turkish investments are definitely welcome. Investments are valued at around 3.7 billion euros, but as you rightly underlined at the High Strategic Council meeting, the potential is for much more. We will make utmost effort to boost trade volume between the two countries by at least over a billion euros.
I would like to express gratitude for approving the driving licenses of Albanian citizens, who can now travel and drive freely their vehicles in Türkiye. You approved the agreement after Germany, but we understand the delay.
In addition to all these, as always, it was an honor, a privilege, and a pleasure to listen to the President’s opinions on the region, but also on the situation in the conflict zones that have plagued the whole world. As always, I have found the President wholeheartedly interested in the progress of our region, in the progress of the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia and keen for progress and peace in the region to consolidate every day.
We also shared with the President the opinions about the conflict in Ukraine. I informed him that in the next few days in Tirana, together with President Zelensky, we will hold a summit of the Southeast European countries where Türkiye is also invited, and I am grateful that despite the packed agenda and the impossibility to be in Tirana, the President has accepted with great pleasure to address the summit via a video message.
We definitely share the pain and concern over what is happening in Gaza. We are convinced it is time for a cease-fire which must result in the release of the hostages and be guaranteed in our view by a joint group including five countries of the Middle East and Türkiye. For us, Türkiye is an irreplaceable actor in guaranteeing tomorrow for Gaza and for Israel itself, together with the other 5 countries, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Emirates, Jordan and Egypt.
Concluding, apart from the President, I would also like to thank all Turkish cabinet members. I would like to thank the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who visited us recently and who is an old and invaluable friend of Albania and Albanians. I also want to thank all the ministers who, in the follow- up to the spirit and directions that were given in the previous meeting that we held here in Ankara, have enabled deeper cooperation and grounds for optimism in the future.
Thank you very much, Mr. President!
