Turkey wants to raise military cooperation in Southern Albania

Turkish Army Chief, asks the Albania Minister to stand Turkish Army for invest in Orikum Naval Base and Kucova Air Base. 

Defence Minister Imami met the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Turkey
 




This morning, Defence Minister, Mr. Arben Imami had a meeting with Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Turkey, General Necdet Özel, who is on an official visit to our country.

Defence Minister Imami addressing to General Necdet Özel said that, I am very happy that you are continuing your visit to the Ministry of Defence and I hope you have liked Tirana. “Relations between our two countries and armies are excellent. Cooperation extends to all areas and I would like to thank you for the particular help you have given in the field of education with technical equipment, but also for our military personnel which operate together in NATO operations, and this is an expression of mutual trust”, - emphasized Minister Imami.

Your visit, continued further Mr. Imami, comes after the visit of the Minister of Defence, which was received with attention both in Albania and in Kosovo. Turkey is one of the countries that have contributed the most to the Armed Forces in the past 20 years, their transformation from old practices and certainly, it has been a friendly country which made possible integration into NATO.

Focusing on the situation in the region, Minister Imami said that, we assessed the Turkey’s role for the stability of the region, where we have tried in these 20 years, and I believe that we have demonstrated all our will for peace and stability. We tried and we have built good relations with our neighbours as Macedonia, Montenegro, we also have very good relations with Croatia, we are trying to stabilize relations with Serbia and we have not conditioned this relationship because of Kosovo, bearing in mind that Kosovo issue is resolved between Pristina, Belgrade and international community. This does not mean that we have not made any effort for the recognition of Kosovo independence. In general, our country is trying to become not only one of the elements of stability, but also for integration efforts, primarily into NATO, underlined Mr. Imami.

Minister Imami, while talking specifically about areas of cooperation between our two countries and armies, mentioned the increasing number of students for training or specialization in the last two years in Turkey, cooperation in Afghanistan, where our military personnel work and help together the Afghan people, support and cooperation with the Commando Battalion, Military Police, etc. “These years have been years of great transformations of Armed Forces. Our focus has been transformation. We are closing the demilitarization programme. In September this year, we will organize the last transformation conference and we believe that will close the full integration stage of the Armed Forces into NATO”, - stated Defence Minister Imami.

Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Turkey, General Necdet Özel said that, I fully believe that this visit will be a contribution to advance good relations between our two countries and I take this opportunity to express my gratitude and thanks for the reception reserved to me. He stressed that relations between two brotherly countries and cooperation are early. In the framework of cooperation agreements signed in 1992, projects and activities are being implemented in the field of training, specialization, health and logistics support. We are ready to listen to the demands you have and assess them and other areas of cooperation, underlined General Özel.
In this important meeting was also discussed the strengthening of cooperation in other projects, such as the Naval Base in Pashaliman and Kuçova’s military airport, etc.

Earlier, the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Turley was welcomed with ceremony and guard of honour by the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Xhemal Gjunkshi. After the ceremonial welcome, both delegations held talks on issues involving bilateral relations in the framework of the Armed Forces, region and Alliance. Major General Gjunkshi thanked his Turkish counterpart for the high level of cooperation in the field of defence between the two countries, as well as its role for their continuous strengthening, and expressed the conviction and will to further strengthen this cooperation.

http://www.mod.gov.al/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2537:ministri-i-mbrojtjes-imami-priti-shefin-e-shtabit-te-pergjithshem-te-fa-te-turqise&catid=87&Itemid=662