Prime Minister Edi Rama attended the event organized at the premises of the “Ziraat Bank” offices in Tirana.

Attending were also Ambassador of Türkiye in Tirana Barış Ceyhun Erciyes, Minister of Economy and Innovation of Albania Delina Ibrahimaj, Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance of Türkiye Abdullah Erdem Cantimur, General Director of Ziraat Bank Alpaslan Çakar, as well as other representatives of Turkish and Albanian institutions.

Ziraat Bank, one of the largest and oldest financial institutions in Türkiye with a history spanning more than 160 years and with an international presence in many countries, aims to contribute to the development of the Albanian banking sector.

The presence of this bank in Albania is expected to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries, support investment, trade and entrepreneurship and offer modern financial products and services to individuals and businesses.

The opening of this branch is considered an important step in deepening Albania- Türkiye economic relations and increasing investor confidence in the Albanian market. /p.s./

Parliamentarians from Turkey were accompanied on this visit by official representatives of “UnWomen” as well as General Director on Status of Women at the Ministry for the Family Gülser Ustaoglu.

Felaj said that, “The purpose of this visit is related to the planning and implementation of the gender budget, a broad and very important topic to address”.

“There are problems of gender inequality, discrimination based on gender, which public policies must solve in order to promote gender equality, as an instrument for the emancipation of society. The fight against gender inequality involves the budget and the sharing of best practices and experiences in shaping, dividing and then implementing the budget for the purposes of a gender perspective, is certainly an excellent opportunity for interaction between the parliaments of our two countries,” she said.

Felaj said that, “Friendship remains a precious basis to do good deeds, to serve with dignity and respect the rights of women, which are universally considered human rights”.

“We have made important steps in all areas, looking separately at the position of women and girls. Today, women and girls are many times more promoted in public life and the political scene, but everything should come in a vertical alignment, from top to bottom, come as naturally as possible, just as society reflects it in its composition. As we talk more and more about this topic and make the right decisions, we realize that this is the real contribution we can make to our constituents,” she said. /m.m/r.e/p.s./

According to the Local Police Directorate of Vlora, the Turkish citizen A. B., 23 years old, resident in Vlora and the citizen J. M., 24 years old, resident in Vlora are the prosecuted persons.

Citizen J. M. is suspected of having received at various times sums of money from citizen A. B. for ensuring names of some known persons by him for voting in the 2021 Parliamentary elections.

The materials were forwarded to Vlora Prosecutor’s Office and the SPAK Tirana for further action.

The media organs have posted photos of Abdulgafur Balikçi, 23 years old, who during the SMI election campaign in Vlora, he also met the political leader of the region and the head of the SMI list, Luan Rama.

On the social network Facebook, Luan Rama wrote a few days ago, that Gafuri (Abdulgafur Balikçi), as they call him, is from Turkey, but he has become more a Vlora citizen than Vlora people themselves.

After the arrest of the 23-year-old by the police, Luan Rama reacted, stating that, “No machinations, no attempt to provoke or blackmail the members, sympathizers and voters of the SMI, can save the Renaissance bandits from defeat of April 25 ”.

“The media manipulation of a piece of news intentionally sold by criminal segments within the structures of the State Police in Vlora for the sale and buying of voters on behalf of the SMI by the citizen Abdulgafur Balikçi, is just the next attempt aimed at scaring and intimidating voters . Abdulgafur Balikçi or Gafuri as he is known in Vlora is an Albanian citizen, he is an Albanian citizen of Turkish origin who lives and works honestly by his profession as a dentist, passionately engaged in the ranks of the SMI after leaving the Renaissance sect, and that is why it is at the center of this scenario of mud casting and manipulation. Law enforcement agencies must perform their duties correctly.

Being convinced that the prosecution will find the truth, I believe it will also prosecute police officers who have fed the portals with fake and politically biased news, proving that the Renaissance militants in the ranks of the state police are a criminal segment “, he said.

“If doctor Abdulgafur Balikçi or any other citizen is involved in violating the law, let him be punished according to the law, but the police can not do this by selling unconfirmed news from the prosecution and not evaluated by the court,” he said. .

On April 10, police detained two people in Puka suspected of distributing money and taking personal data and ID card numbers from various citizens. The local leader of this party Demir Syla was prosecuted and Vasil Shabani, a suspect in the case, was handcuffed.

They were found with a list with the names of 27 voters in Puka, two ballots similar to that of the ballot paper and over 5 million old lekë, with whom it is suspected that they would buy the votes.

The leadership of the Socialist Movement for Integration (SMI) in Shkodra region reacted after the event in Puka, emphasizing that, “SMI activists who have been taken under investigation by the police is a situation that shows the extreme politicization of the Renaissance police.”/p.s./

Speaking about the topics that were discussed, Mayor Arbana said that the talks focused on the project for the adjustment of the Erzeni River embankment and the projects on forests.

“I had the pleasure and honor to welcome in Shijak the delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture of Turkey, where the Minister of Agriculture was present. This meeting is in context of the need that our municipality has as affected by the earthquake and the problem of floods as a result of the outflow of the river Erzen “, said Arbana.

Arbana emphasized that some of the topics discussed were the project made by the municipal staff for the construction of the Erzen River embankment, the management and regulation of the current forests and the administration of the lakes in Shijak to turn them into tourist destinations.

“I am grateful to the Minister of Agriculture of Turkey for this meeting as a bridge of cooperation and assistance to Shijak. I am grateful to Prime Minister Rama and the Albanian Government for their support in the reconstruction of our city. “Where there is will, there is a way”, Arbana concluded./p.s./