Tirana, Oct 27 (Tirana Echo) – Turkey has stepped up its action to dismantle all assets of Fethullah Gülen in Albania, in what seems to be an aggressive witch-hunt against people and assets supported by the FETO organization across Albania.
During a visit in Ankara where he met with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım and President Erdogan, Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati has been told by the Turkish side that Ankara is paying particular attention to terrorist activities of Gulen’s FETO network which widely spread across Albania, and that all its assets and people should be dismantled without further delay.
According to Albanian TV ‘Top Channel’, Albanian Foreign Minister Bushati has confirmed the will to work with Turkey as allies and friends, but according to the best international practices and in respect of internal procedures of Albania, demanding facts for any person involved in terrorist activities in Albania.
In an official press release, the Albanian Foreign Ministry has said that during his meetings Foreign Minister Bushati spoke of the importance of the Turkish-Albanian ‘strategic relations’ and the firm will to cooperate against terrorism and extreme phenomenon as two NATO countries.
Since the attempted ‘coup’ in July, Turkey’s authorities have stepped up their action to close down all Gulen’s investments in Albania which Tirana Echo has learned that a massive ‘whitch-hunt’ is undergoing to remove all people with links to Gulen and its institutions, from any positions they may hold in Turkish investments or other institutions. It is rumored that several Albanian citizens working in Government have been included in the so called ‘black List’ of Erdogan which has been delivered to Albanian authorities.
Outline of FETO Network across the Balkans according to Anadolu Agency Website
According to Turkish authorities, FETO runs 12 prestigious schools in Albania and 40 in total in the Balkans.
Earlier this month, Turkey’s Ambassador to Albania Hidayet Bayraktar said that Albania should stand by its strategic partnership and should not turn into a threat for Turkey demanding the Albanian authorities to “show the necessary sensitivity to destroy all FETÖ‘s extensions active across the beautiful country of Albania”.
Fethullah Gülen’s Organization FETO has build a wide network of private companies, media, civil society and educational institutions across the Balkans, but more notably in Albania, Bosnia and Macedonia.
Since the coup, relations between Ankara and Tirana have been strained due to a heavy presence of Gülen’s investments in the Balkan country. While Turkey has declared FETÖ a terrorist organization, Albania maintains that no terrorist organization has any educational activity in its territory.
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