Just like in the years of communism, when Albanians were informed about what was happening in Albania by Voice of America, GR2, RAI or the BBC, today we often learn about events that take place in Albania from foreign media. In an article in the Turkish paper Sabah Daily we learn that Albania has imported sophisticated anti-drone rifles from Turkey. This paper reports that the Turkish company National War Technologies Defence Systems Inc., based in Antalya, with the Turkish name Ulusal Harp Technologies Savunma Sistemleri A.S., has exported anti-drone rifles to Albania. This Sabah Daily news was widely reflected in the Albanian media, but without making an ‘in depth’ analysis!
Some strange aspects of this extremely sophisticated arms import drew our attention from the point of view of investigative journalism.
The Rama government has a very active propaganda section for the government’s successes. It becomes ‘news with text and video’ when whitewashing the inauguration of even a school. For the Ministry of Defence the shooting of about 50 shells in total with a 20 mm calibre Narval automatic cannon is also special news. The Ministry of the Interior is proud and creates propaganda even when the Swedish Embassy in Tirana, in order to modernize the Albanian police, donates a dozen bicycles to the Elbasan police, in order to increase the efficiency of community patrols.
Interestingly, not a single Albanian ministry admitted the import into Albania of such ultra-modern equipment, useable for homeland defence, for the protection of the privacy of Albanian VIPs. Why this total silence on the part of the Albanian ministries?! Why do none of them dare take ownership of importing such ultra-modern equipment?! Where’s the sleeping rabbit?
There are two possibilities;
First: These anti-drone weapons were imported to Albania only for the purpose of trafficking. The scheme is an old one when all kinds of weapons, including surface-to-air missiles of the MANPAD class type IGLLA 16 or even IGLLA 18 or even MISAGH II, were imported allegedly for the needs of Albania’s Ministry of Defence. Since Albania was used only to issue the document called EUC (End User Certificate), the newly purchased missiles were resold in all four corners of the world using as realtors mainly firms with Israeli owners such as Panorama LTD. Since neither the Ministry of Defence, nor the Ministry of the Interior, nor SHISH (National Intelligence Service) can afford the purchase of anti-drone rifles in Albania, the question arises, who imported these anti-drone rifles in Albania? Were they bought by the Ministry of Agriculture or the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports?! Turkish colleagues at the Sabah Daily confirm that the EUC (End User Certificate) document for the import into Albania of anti-drone rifles is regular, original and signed by an Albanian official named Ëngjëllush Bekteshi.
Second: The anti-drone rifles were legally imported into Albania by an Albanian-owned company in the service of the former terrorist organization MEK (Iranians of Manza). If this second variant turns out to be true, after consulting the export documents of the Turkish company based in Antalya, we will officially ask the Rama government: What is the purpose of importing anti-drone rifles from Turkey for several thousand former terrorists?! In the agreement of the Albanian Government with the UNHCR for the admission of these former Iranian terrorists in Albania, it is written in black and white that they are accepted for humanitarian reasons as endangered persons (Sic!). We ask: Was the equipping of these former Iranian terrorists with extremely sophisticated weapons such as anti-drone rifles for humanitarian reasons?! Do the Albanian government, the Ministry of the Interior, SHISH, anti-terrorism agencies know whether these extremely sophisticated weapons have ended up in the hands of the former terrorists of the Rajavi Cult or not? As an Albanian taxpayer, I ask the above-mentioned institutions, if such weapons are in the hands of former Iranian terrorists, how much and how do they serve the security of my homeland?!
I am closing this post by inviting the competent Albanian authorities to refute my findings by making public the name of the Albanian company or state institution that imported such anti-drone weapons from Turkey to Albania. I ask the Albanian authorities not to bother me with the alleged ‘preservation of state secrecy’, because since October 17 the Turkish daily (and a dozen other media outlets afterwards) have published in Turkish and English the news of the export of such anti-drone rifles to Albania. When the news was made public 3-4 weeks ago, there can be no more state secrets. There is only secret traffic of sophisticated weapons armaments to members of a former terrorist organization called MEK (for more info consult the State Department List up to 2012).
Waiting for an official refutation……
Gjergji Thanasi, Translated by Iran Interlink