After Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called on Albania to close down schools linked to Fethullah Gulen and ‘extradite the terrorists’, Albania’s Ditmir Bushati said Tirana had to respect its international obligations on extradition.
“There is a serious Feto-ist structure in Albania. They have penetrated very deeply into the state system,” Cavusoglu said, using the acronym “Feto”, short for Fethullah Terrorist Organisation, for Gulen’s followers.
“We do not provide shelter to terrorists that come from Albania and we expect the same from our Albanian friends,” the minister added.
However, Bushati replied that as a NATO member and as a candidate for EU membership, Tirana is bound by international agreements on extradition that cannot be overturned at press conferences.
“Albania adheres to several important international documents relating to extraditions,” Bushati said. “Any such policy should follow the diplomatic route, and not press conferences,” he added.
Once a close ally of Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Gulen has since morphed into his bitterest foe. Now based in the US, he has denied playing any role in the failed 2016 coup.
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