President Erdoğan and Rama make statements in Albania

President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama made statements at a joint press conference during the Second Meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council at the Albanian Prime Ministry building.

Highlights from the President's remarks are as follows:

"WE HAVE FURTHER DEEPENED OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH TODAY'S AGREEMENTS"

We have further deepened the strategic partnership we established in 2021 with today's agreements. With the joint declaration we signed, the development of our council in various fields

We have continued our initiatives with the three-article agreement we just signed regarding agriculture, higher education, and public relations. We are continuing our efforts to increase our trade volume to the 2 billion dollar level in the first stage.

"OUR COMMON TOPIC: PALESTINE AND LEBANON"

The occupied Palestinian territories and the issue of Lebanon were among the common topics of our meeting. The genocide that has been ongoing in Gaza for a year is a shame for all of humanity. For this reason, we, as the international community, must fulfill our responsibilities to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid. I believe that Albania will also do its part in this regard.

"WE ARE HERE TO TAKE CONCRETE STEPS"

Today, I feel great satisfaction. We are here to take concrete steps to further strengthen our strategic character.

"WE WILL INAUGURATE THE NAMAZGAH MOSQUE"

Again today, together with my dear friend Mr. Edi Rama, we will inaugurate the Namazgah Mosque, which is a gift from the Turkish people to their Muslim brothers and sisters in Albania, with the support of our Presidency of Religious Affairs and the Diyanet Foundation. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this process. This distinguished work, which is the largest mosque in the Balkans, will be a place of worship where the feelings of peace and unity, which are the sublime values of Islam, will flourish.

With these thoughts, I would like to thank all our Albanian friends, especially Prime Minister Mr. Rama, for their sincere hospitality once again, and I wish that our consultations and the decisions we have taken will be auspicious with the steps we have taken and will take in various fields—military, political, economic, commercial, and in addition to all these, tourism—and I greet you all with respect."

ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER: TURKEY HAS SHOWN EXTRAORDINARY DEVELOPMENT

Albanian Prime Minister Rama's statements are as follows:

"I feel great satisfaction today. We held the second meeting of the High-Level Council. We were here to take concrete steps regarding the agreements reached with concrete steps for evaluation in order to strengthen this cooperation. Whenever we come together, he emphasizes again that our consensus, especially in the commercial sense, does not fully express our potential, the potential of both countries. We want to reach our 2 billion euro target. We hope to exceed this. The visit of Turkish citizens to Albania increased by 85 percent in the first 8 months of this year. We have reached an agreement for more investment. Turkey has shown extraordinary development. It is of great importance to us. On the other hand, we have signed many cooperation agreements. There was an agreement we were looking forward to, and the issue of ITU opening a program in Tirana is of great importance."

News Source: 12punto