After Tirana, the Turkish president visits Serbia, AFP: Erdogan may sign an arms deal with Vucic

Turkey and Albania will continue their joint fight against terrorist groups for regional peace, especially FETÖ, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Thursday as he began his tour of the Balkans.

"Turkey will support Albania's needs for its strategic partner and NATO ally to train and equip its military forces," Erdogan said in a joint press conference with Prime Minister Edi Rama.

The Turkish leader was referring to the Gülenist Terror Group that organized a bloody coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016.  

After signing several memoranda of understanding on economic, tourism, educational and cultural cooperation, Erdogan said the two countries have confirmed their will to increase the "welfare of their people".

" We continue our efforts to increase our bilateral trade volume to 2 billion dollars ," he added.

Regarding global and regional issues, Erdogan said that Turkey appreciates Albania's peace efforts.

He repeated his call for international pressure on Israel to stop its attacks on the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon and said he believed Albania would do its part on the issue.

The two NATO member countries also cooperate in the military field. Tirana's military arsenal includes Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones, the first of which arrived this year.

Rama përshëndeti bashkëpunimin e mëtejshëm ushtarak me Turqinë, prodhimi i mbrojtjes vendase të së cilës “është i njohur në mbarë botën” dhe tha se “Dronët turq të dhuruar për ne janë shumë të rëndësishëm sepse tregojnë se Shqipëria nuk mund të goditet”.

Afterwards, the two leaders inaugurated the Great Mosque of Tirana, the largest mosque in the Balkans, the construction of which was financed by Turkey, which Rama called "a symbol of brotherhood between our nations."

Erdogan të premten në Serbi

Të premten, Erdogan do të shkojë në Serbi, ku Turqia bëri një rikthim të madh politik në vitin 2017 me vizitën e tij historike në Beograd.

At the time, Erdogan and his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, mended ties between their countries.

Pesë shekujt e pranisë osmane në Serbi kanë rënduar shumë në marrëdhëniet midis Beogradit dhe Ankarasë.

Another source of tension has been the cultural and historical ties between Turkey and Serbia's former breakaway province of Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move that Belgrade still refuses to recognize.

Vizita e vitit 2017 megjithatë riparoi marrëdhëniet e Turqisë me Serbinë, tha për Agjencine Franceze (AFP) analisti me bazë në Beograd, Vuk Vuksanovic.

Since then, "The Balkans is quite a success story for Turkey."

Military cooperation
At times, ties between Turkey and Serbia have cooled, including when Ankara last year sold drones to Kosovo, angering Belgrade, which deemed the move "unacceptable".

But the dispute can be resolved with a new cooperation agreement, Vuksanovic estimated.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we see a military agreement at the end of this visit," Vuksanovic said.

He expected the talks in Belgrade to focus on "military cooperation, the position of Turkish business companies and Belgrade's efforts to persuade Ankara to reduce support for Kosovo."

Erdogan is expected to address efforts to de-escalate tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, which have prevailed despite normalization efforts by actors in their wider region to reduce the heat.

Edhe pse afrimi midis Ankarasë dhe Beogradit është relativisht i fundit, lidhjet ekonomike midis dy vendeve janë tashmë të rëndësishme.

Investimet turke në Serbi janë rritur nga një milion në 400 milion dollarë në dekadën e fundit, sipas Këshillit të Biznesit Turqi-Serbi, të cituar në qershor nga Anadolu Agency (AA) e Turqisë.

Turkish exports to Serbia reached $2.13 billion in 2022, up from $1.14 billion in 2020, according to official Serbian figures.

Serbia është gjithashtu një destinacion i rëndësishëm turistik për shtetasit turq, i dyti vetëm pas Bosnje-Hercegovinës.