Ben-Meir warns Kosovo and Albania: Stand by by Turkey

A New York University professor warns Albania and Kosovo of the danger of Turkish influence and says it is clear that Recep Tayip Erdogan's goal is to expand his control in the Balkans.

Alon Ben-Meir, a researcher at the University's Centre for Global Affairs, said in an interview for Voice of America that Albanian leaders have accommodated Turkey because of mutual interests and that they should distance themselves if they want to draw close to the EU.

Professor Ben-Meir spoke with colleague Keida Kostreci also of the Turkish influence in Kosovo.

Voice of America: Professor Ben-Meir, you have expressed concern for the Turkish influence in the Balkans. What is the essence of your concern?

Alon Ben-Meir: The concern we have in President Erdogan's agenda and his agenda is to promote Islam wherever it can, as well as the return of a version of the Ottoman Empire, and he himself has said so. His former prime minister (Ahmet) Davutoglu and many of the officials with whom we regularly speak said that by 2023, which corresponded to the 100th anniversary of the New Turkish Republic, would have power and influence similar to what the Ottoman Empire had over the 500 years it controlled the entire area. So in my opinion, his agenda is very malicious. I'm not sure he's doing this for the benefit of Kosovo and Albania, but he will attract them into his orbit to leave the European Union.

He (Erdogan) is using religion as a political instrument to promote the Turkish agenda, especially in majority Muslim countries. Albania and Kosovo are perfect candidates, precisely because geographically and geopolitically, Erdogan will do that to exercise control and influence throughout the Balkans.

Voice of America: Your last article, coauthored Arbana Jarre, spoke of the danger this impact poses to Albania and that it is being accomplished through investments, banks, infrastructure. You say Albania should be worried...

Alon Ben-Meir: Absolutely. Albania has over 50 per cent Muslim population, and it (Erdogan) feels very comfortable trying to impose its Islamic programme, and it is doing so in some ways, for example, with investments. He is investing heavily in Albanian infrastructure, building dozens of mosques. In fact, he is now building the largest mosque in the Balkans. He controls the biggest banks. Turkish (airlines) is building the biggest airport. What he's trying to do is that through investments and promotion of the Islamic programme, under the guise of cultural exchanges, he is entering Albania, because with his mind this is one of the ways he can expand his orbit throughout the Balkans and, as I said before with a clear programme, to draw these countries closer to Turkey, leaving the European Union, especially now that Albania is on the front lines to joining the European Union. He does not want that to happen, especially because Turkey itself is no longer a potential candidate to join the European Union. Therefore, he is trying to attract these countries to Turkey and essentially to use in the future as balance to the EU by saying “I am in control, I have tremendous impact and that they have to deal with me, if they want to deal with Balkan states”.

Voice of America: Prime Minister Edi Rama, in a recent interview, denied that Turkey poses a threat to Albania's sovereignty. Where do you see the connection between such investments and the threat to sovereignty, which makes you feel that such efforts should be taken seriously?

Alon Ben-Meir: I think Albania's leaders are in subjection and Erdogan is very good at exploiting any kind of weakness. This is one element. The other element is that there is much corruption within the government itself, and in this direction, the attempts with Turkey to benefit favour from the Turkish government and Erdogan himself, is something he likes and would like to see expanded. So what we see here is a reciprocity of interests between both sides, and I think it's now about a long-term agenda. For Erdogan, it is how to restore the Ottoman Empire and use the Balkans as a basis for this process, and this is not the only area where Erdogan is trying to exercise Turkish power, he is trying to do so even in different areas of the Middle East. This is broader than the Balkans, but the Balkans for it is a primary goal at this moment.

Voice of America: According to you, the country's leaders do not realize that efforts are being made to influence, or because these concerns are now publicly expressing themselves want to minimize their importance?

Alon Ben-Meir: I am not surprised that they are so indifferent to such accusations. We didn't expect anything different, because this is actually the method they use to hide this insidious relationship with Turkey. Of course they will deny it, but the truth is this: Albania is a key EU candidate. The more distance it is from Turkey, the better it is for Albania to become a member of the European Union, and I think that the Albanian people and the Albanian government should take that into account. So yes, you may have good relations with many countries, including Turkey, but you should not allow a government like that of Turkey to control what is happening in Albania and many Albanians are concerned about this attitude and see it as a malicious stance on Erdogan's part, and not as a good will on the part of Turkey, so that both countries can benefit from both countries, but this is not Erdogan's main goal, as I previously said.

Voice of America: You have said that this influence is disturbing to the European Union as well. Can't it be argued that since the European Commission itself recommended opening negotiations, this is not such a big concern?

Alon Ben-Meir: Albania has long developed a good relationship with the European Union, and the EU would not consider a new member unless that country implements EU standards in terms of human rights, democratic governance, of course there should be no corruption. There is no question that Albania is in that direction, but I think leaders do their best to accommodate Erdogan, and I think this would be a big mistake because the EU is looking very carefully and is very unhappy with what Erdogan is doing in many countries, but especially in the Balkans.

Voice of America: President Erdogan did not hesitate to voice his disappointment with the Kosovo prime minister's measures, following the deportation of four Turkish citizens from Kosovo, even citing the fact that Turkey was among the first countries to recognise its independence. How worried are you about the Turkish influence in Kosovo?

Alon Ben-Meir: Our concern for Kosovo is even greater than it is for Albania. There is little Erdogan said Kosovo is Turkey, and Turkey is Kosovo. He sees Kosovo as a Turkish colony and thus treats it. He is doing the same for Kosovo, trying to get it into Turkish orbit, following the same method, investing and doing everything he can to increase his influence, while on the other hand, he makes every effort to weaken the impact Fetullah Gulen movement has had on Kosovo. The event of deportation of four Turkish citizens was something that had not been heard almost anywhere else. So he (Erdogan) feels more or less free to do what he wants in Kosovo, and in this last case, Kosovo's governance is due to it because they need Turkish support in many ways, they certainly need Turkish investments in different sectors of the economy.

Voice of America: When you say governance what do you know, because the incident showed to some extent that the president and the prime minister were not on a line?

Alon Ben-Meir: It's true, but I'm not sure. My feeling is it was more for public consumption. How could the head of the intelligence service perform this operation without announcing the president? And he really fired the intelligence chief, trying to demonstrate that Kosovo disagrees with these kinds of activities, but is that an attitude, a real policy? Because if you see bilateral relations between Turkey and Kosovo, it seems very close and there is very little change we see carefully, there is very little difference between the two countries in terms of different levels of governments on both sides.

Voice of America: Do you think that to contain this influence, it should be the EU to pressure, or should leaders themselves distance themselves?

Alon Ben-Meir: If the EU wants to weaken Erdogan's influence on Balkan countries, it should undertake more initiatives, especially financially in these countries, and significantly increase investments in these countries, because both Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and all these countries are not in good economic condition. If the EU wants to weaken Erdogan's influence in these areas, it should invest much more in these countries, especially now with Albania discussing steps to enter the EU.

Voice of America: This is similar to what Albania's prime minister in Germany asked for, telling Europe that if it wanted to curb radicalism in Albania, it should open the door to its membership. But this stance does not have a logical line because, on the other hand, it itself defended ties with Turkey. What is your comment?

Alon Ben-Meir: What you want to see Edi Rama is for Albania to become an EU member, but without sacrificing relations with other countries, including Turkey. This is not a problem as long as he understands, that there are limits on how much Turkey can allow to enter Albania and affect internal affairs in the country. So they have to choose. If you want to get close to the EU and become an EU member, you need to respect its rules, which Erdogan does not. Turkey today is not a democracy, human rights violations are rampant across the country, tens of thousands of people have been arrested after the coup attempt, so it's not democracy and I don't want to see that kind of influence spread to the Balkans, where ( The EU has much interest in the region being politically stable, militarily, as well as economically progressing. So even the EU has particular interest in moving the Balkans in that direction and should invest in their goals,

Voice of America: Through your studies, have you seen concrete examples of Turkey or those related to it affecting any policy in Albania?

Alon Ben-Meir: When you've penetrated so much of the economic development, in the financial sector, in education, in school construction, you'll have a direct and indirect impact on internal policies, and it's not discussed. Therefore, the governments of Albania and Kosovo should be concerned about this; as far as Turkey will be allowed to intervene in the internal affairs of these countries. Yes, they can welcome investments, but they also need to think -- whether they want to sell major state properties to Turkey. And that happened. You can't give your national airport a foreign country. This should not be acceptable in Kosovo, Albania and nowhere else. Caution should be made about what kind of investments Turkey should be allowed and of course not allowed to control state property, state property should remain 100 percent in state hands, in the hands of the people, and not in the hands of the people, a foreign power, especially Turkey, which has a specific programme.