Albania Media and blogs

The interests of Iranian citizens in Albania will be protected

The interests of Iranian citizens in Albania will be protected through an interests section at the Turkish embassy in Tirana.

The decision was made during a telephone conversation on Saturday between Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, where they discussed a number of bilateral and regional issues, among others. According to the state news agency IRNA, Amir-Abdollahian also thanked the Turkish government for its support in this regard.

Representation of the interests of a third country due to the termination of diplomatic relations is provided for in the Vienna Convention. In article 45, point 3 of this convention it is stated that in case of interruption of diplomatic relations between two states, or if a mission is called definitively or temporarily “The sending state can entrust the protection of its interests and those of its citizens a third country acceptable to the receiving country”.

On September 7, Albania severed diplomatic relations with Iran. Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that there is irrefutable evidence that Iran financed the cyber attack, as after 24 hours the ambassador and the entire staff of the Iranian embassy left Albania.

Voxnews.al

April 27, 2023 0 comment

The cult of Rajavi

A DEMOCRACY IN ABSURDITY!

The MEK was founded as a democratic Islamic movement in September 1965.
The group settled in Iraq in 1986 and built Camp Ashraf near the Iranian border, after collaborating against their homeland with then-president Saddam Hussein.

Washington designated the group as a terrorist organization since in 1997 they killed 6 Americans in 1970.

In 1986 the movement moved its base of operations to Eastern Iraq, but the situation changed with the American invasion to Iraq. US forces attacked their targets but after a while reached a ceasefire and after disarmament, it was decided that they would be held at Camp Ashraf, a former Iraqi military base.

This resistance group was considered a terrorist organization by the US due to the killing of American personnel in Iran during the 70s. But with the withdrawal of Americans from Ashraf in 2011, the acts of violence between them and the Iraqi soldiers began.

CRYSTAL MEDIA 224 on the MEK

A DEMOCRACY IN ABSURDITY!

In 2013, the first group of 210 mujahedin took shelter in our country, while today we count over 3000 people who are sheltered in Manez, in Albania.

The decisions of the Berisha and Rama governments at that time regarding the acceptance of the mujahedin have never been made public, therefore the information about that is minimal and the conditions of their acceptance are not known.

In June 2015, some Iraqi media reported that the MEK was buying or had bought property in Albania to set up a camp like the one they once had in Iraq. According to them, such a camp can be transformed into a base for the training of various terrorist organizations.

But nowadays, from many accounts I have heard from former members of the Mujahideen, I have understood and heard the miserable conditions they live in this camp of Manze in Albania.

Apart from this, the most important thing is that this group believes that it is a democratic organization while falls into a paradoxical contradiction in the conditions that many fundamental rights are not implemented in this camp.

One of the main democratic principles is the right to speech, opinion and dignity. This has not been implemented in the group.

For the mujahedin organization, freedom of speech means that you write down all your opinions on a piece of paper and then all of them are examined by Massoud Rajavi, and a few of them are replies if any. Where is the freedom here?

We call ourselves free and with democratic principles if we could be able to state whatever we think and want.
Is it freedom that they have to get a visa to leave the manza camp to a few meters or kilometers outside the camp?

Is this called freedom?

But the thing that surprised me the most in the conferences and confessions of these former members of this organization, is that the right to have a family is not allowed!

A former member told me that he has his brother very close, only 35 km away, and he hasn’t met, talked or communicated with him in 7 years.

The most absurd find!

The most absurd thing I have heard is the statement that Massoud Rajavi and his wife say that the family is your enemy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How can a parent be an enemy when he mourns for 30 years for his child whom this organization has declared dead for some mothers, while they have seen them in this organization’s own cinema performing live.

That mother mourns and seeks her child, this organization forces its member to call his or her parent an enemy.

That mother does not ask for anything more than a phone call!

By Aldo Sulollari Journalist – Crystal Media 224 – translated by Nejat Society

April 25, 2023 0 comment

Former members of the MEK

MCNTV interviews Heyrani wife

He has been on hunger strike for 18 days. “My fiancé, Hassan Heyrani, an Iranian citizen, has been on hunger strike for 18 days after being unjustly imprisoned in the Closed Center for Foreigners Karreç, in Durrës”.
This is the claim of Margarita Ballço, who complained on the show “Xhadat”.

On November 8, 2022, Hassan Heyrani, 43 years old, was imprisoned in the Closed Center for Foreigners Karreç, in Durrës. Summoned by the Directorate of Immigration Police in Laprakë, he appeared together with some of his friends, members of the “ASILA” society in Albania, to renew their residence permit, but from there they were sent to Karreç, where for several days they have been on hunger strike.

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Interview/MCNTV-Ballco-202301.mp4

“Hasan came to Albania in 2016 and left the Manza camp in 2018, because he wanted a free life, he wanted to start a family. He was called to the Directorate of Immigration Police in Laprakë to renew his residence permit, and there he was told that he should go to the detention center in Karreç, for reasons of national security. Hassan has been in the detention center for 2 months and he doesn’t know why he is inside. He has his own association “Asila” and a bar. I addressed the Ministry of the Interior, the Prime Minister with letters, the President, the Directorate of the Immigration Police, and they gave me a vague answer, which is for national security. 5 of his friends were also imprisoned. I suspect that this was done by Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the mujahedin, because Hassan showed the dirty things that were done in the MEK, what really happened,” said Margarita.

We remind you that for several years Albania has become one of the places of refuge for members of the organization People’s Mujahedin of Iran, in other words (MEK), which until recently was considered a terrorist organization by most Western countries.

In the month of August, at the book fair organized in Durrës, there was also a clash between the mujahedin who live inside the Manza camp and those who left it, representatives of the “ASILA” association. One of them was Hassan Heyrani.

The name of Hassan Heyrani – on the website MEK Iran.com is among the names of the Intelligence Agents of the Iranian regime in Albania.
From November 8, 2022, he is in the closed center for foreigners in Karreç, Durrës.

He does not know why he is inside and it is the 17th day of the hunger strike, that he is waiting for a correct answer from our government. If he did something, why don’t they take him to court and punish him? In July last year, Hassan and his 10 friends’ apartments were searched by SPAK and they found nothing inside.

Before going on hunger strike, in a connection from the center of Karreç, Hasan talked about the difficult conditions in which he is.
“We are here without any explanation. No one answers us, it’s very cold, no heater. We sleep with coats and hoods. The officer told us that he did not like the interviews we gave to the BBC and some other media, where we talked about the mujahedin. Honestly, we are scared, because here it is like a prison. For more than 40 days, we could not go out to get fresh air. We are just in a room, where all the doors are closed. Every week, or once every two weeks, a group of policemen come and pick up a person, put him in a car and immediately take him to Greece. I told them, if we have any problem, if we have broken any law of Albania, please go to court, before the judges. “,he said.

January 7, 2023 0 comment

Media

Five Iranian citizens kept in isolation in the Camp Karreç

5 Iranian citizens are kept in isolation in the Camp known as Karreç, a state high security institution.
Association Asila which comes to Albania with its mission of producing cultural activities and supporting the Iranian community in Albania.

Asila has continued with its cultural activities and book fairs, but there has been a lack of commitment and interest in these members who are far from their families in Asila. Mr. Dashamir Mersuli, recently in a conference for the media and for Publialb, said that it was suggested that their detention was made without any institutional decision.

these citizens have been on hunger strike for 15 days

According to media sources, these citizens have been on hunger strike for 15 days, without food or drink. They demand their right to freedom, as was the reason for coming from Iran to Albania.

They have previously said in the media that they are grateful to the Albanian state and that they love our country and try to contribute here in Albania.

While Asila earlier addressed the institutions for an answer regarding this situation, Hassan Heyrani, Hassan Shahbaz, Mehdi Soleimani, Ali Hajari and Gholam Reza Shekari will spend New Year’s Day in detention. “Asila will continue the cultural activities, but also the pursuit for their right”. This is the word of the Asila team.

Publialb AL

January 3, 2023 0 comment

Media

Albanian Kristal TV report on ASILA’s hunger strike

The Albanian Kristal TV reported on the situation of 5 detained members of the Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA). The detained people are former members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK/PMOI) who have been isolated in the illegal immigrants’ detention center near Tirana since mid-November .

The report titled “Asila’s sacrifices for integrity and social development” begins quoting Dashamir Mersuli, the director of ASILA as telling “A year with challenges”.

“As it is already known, 5 Iranian citizens are kept isolated in the Camp known as Kareç, a high-state security institution,” Kristal TV reports. “The Asila association, which acts in Albania in the framework of the development of cultural activities and the support of the Iranian community in Albania, has continued with its cultural activities and book fairs, like what other associations do, but there has been a lack of interest in these members who are located far from their Asila home.”

some of them were caught under false pretenses, which is just lip service and without any institutional decision.

According to the report, the head of the Asila association, Mr. Dashamir Mersuli, recently said in a press conference that it had been implied that some of them were caught under false pretenses, which is just lip service and without any institutional decision.

“These individuals have been on hunger strike for 15 days, without food or drink according to media sources,” Kristal TV states. “They demand their right to freedom, as was the reason for coming from Iran to Albania.”

The Albanian media reports, “they have previously said in the media that they are grateful to the Albanian state and that they love our country. While Asila earlier addressed the institutions for an answer regarding this situation.”

As Kristal TV predicted Hassan Heyrani, Hassan Shabazi, Mehdi Soleimani, Ali Hajari and Gholam Reza Shekari spent New Year’s holiday in detention.
“Asila will continue the cultural activities but also the search for their right,” Mr. Mersuli told Kristal TV.

January 2, 2023 0 comment

Former members of the MEK

Albanian TV ALPO interview ASILA members

The Albanian TV and Radio Channel ALPO interviewed members of the Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA). The host of the program interviewed Dashamir Mersuli, the Albanian director of ASILA, Rahman Mohammadian and Hamid Atabay, the Iranian members of ASILA and defectors of the Mujahedin-e Khalq.
As a member of Asila and the wife of Sarfaraz Rahimi (MEK defector) Erisa Rahimi interpreted the questions and answers for the Iranian guests. Rahman Mohammadian as one of the first people who defected the MEK immediately after it was relocated in Albania and Hamid Atabay as the most recently defected member of the group explained about the life conditions inside the MEK.

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Interview/Alpo-ASILA-202212.mp4

to download the video file click here

Introducing himself, Mohammadian presented a brief on his involvement with the MEK and exhibited the book of his biography that has been published in Albanian language. “In this book I have written the reality of membership in the MEK as a cult that deprived me from life,” he stated. He also introduced the biography written by another member of ASILA, Khalil Ansarian who is a defector of the MEK too.

Rahman spoke to the audience of ALPO about the cultural and historical similarities between Iran and Albania and appreciated the Albanian people for their kindness, good manners and generosity. “However, defectors of the MEK still have an enemy called Mujahedin-e Khalq,” he said. “The MEK is hostile to woman, life and freedom and because it has money, it is able to conspire against us.”

As the Albanian head of ASILA, Dashamir Mersuli explained the missions of ASILA in Albanian language and then Hamid Atabay described his experience of the attitude of MEK leaders against the Albanian nation. Atabay who left the MEK’s camp Ashraf 3 hundred days ago, recounted the first day of residing in the Albanian territory six years ago when the group commanders warned them about the “anti-freedom” and “bourgeois” people of Albania! Atabay asserts that later he came to know that the MEK was wrong and in the few times he faced with the Albanian citizens he found the opposite.

Hamid regrets 36 years of his life lost in the cult of Maryam Rajavi during which he was never allowed to contact his family. The newly joined ASILA member shows the photos of his brother and sister from the time they were on strike in front of Camp Ashraf, Iraq. “The MEK commanders never told me that my brother and sister had come to Iraq to meet me.”

At the end of the show, Atabay recalls a few days before he left the MEK. “106 days ago, in the MEK, I heard them saying that Dashamir is a big terrorist,” he says. He keeps on explaining that how he was warmly welcome by Dashamir Mersuli when he went to him at ASILA office immediately after defection. Atabay ironically warns ALPO interviewer on the probability of being labeled as terrorist after interviewing ASILA members.

December 21, 2022 0 comment

Former members of the MEK

The Albanian Publialb covered ASILA visit Frashëri museum

The Albanian Publialb channel covered members of the Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA) visiting Frashëri museum.
ASILA members went to Frashër on their way to Përmet where they were supposed to hold their book fair. In Frashër, they visited Frashëri museum.

Carrying the flag of Albania and ASILA, they entered the museum where Erisa Rahimi interpreted the explanations of the museum guide for the Iranian visitors who are former members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq and current members of ASILA.

https://dld.nejatngo.org/Media/Report/Publialb-ASILA-202212-1.mp4

to download the video file click here

Frashëri museum was actually the house where the famous Frashëri brothers (Abdyl, Naim, Sami Frashëri) of the Albanian National Renaissance were born and raised. After the original house was ruined in 1892, it was newly overbuilt and in 1974 it was declared a museum and a place of important cultural heritage. It has 10 rooms and represents interest in terms of scientific, aesthetic and artistic level

December 21, 2022 0 comment

Albania

Albanian Citizens protest against Illegal detention of ASILA members

Following the detention of six members of the Association for the Support of Iranians Living in Albania (ASILA), the friends and families of the detainees started petitions in the Albanian immigration and border department. Margarita Ballco, the wife of Hassan Heirani, the Iranian head of ASILA wrote a letter to the chief commissioner Ferdinand Gjeta, the acting director of the local border and migration Directorate in Kuk, Albania.

The response of commissioner Gjeta to Mrs. Ballco faced protest by the Albanian members of ASILA association including Olsi Jazexhi, Gjergji Thanasi. The letter which was posted on Jazexhi’s Facebook account is as it follows:
In a letter that Chief Commissioner Ferdinand Gjeta replied to Margarita Ballco, Hasan’s wife, Commissioner Fredi makes several mistakes. First, he calls Hasan a citizen – at a time when Hasan, like the other Mujahideen, are stateless people. They are political asylum seekers in Albania.

Secod, Hasan Heyrani is not an Iranian citizen. He is a stateless asylum seeker.
Commissioner Ferdi in his letter shows that Hasan and his friends, repentant people who have abandoned the violent Mujahedin jihadis, were taken illegally, their asylum status granted to them by the UNHCR and the Albanian state was ignored, and they were locked up in Karrec as a threat to public safety.

Commissioner Ferdi says that the detention of Hasan and other Iranian men was ordered by Edi Rame’s Minister of the Interior, Bledi Cuci.

]llegal, criminal ban that violates Albanian and international laws. The Interior Minister of the Renaissance government has sided with Maryam Rajavi and the Mujahedin-e Khalq army in persecuting Iranians who reject violent jihad and terrorism.
Albanian wives of Iranians must continue the legal battle with Edi Rama’s Minister of Interior, for this criminal act he did to them.

Signed by Olsi Jazexhi, Gjergji Thanasi and ten other Albanian citizens

The response of commissioner Gjeta to Mrs. Ballco

December 14, 2022 0 comment

Albania

Albania-Iran Political Crisis Intensifies After Second Cyberattack

The Albanian border management information system (TIMS) was back online on Sunday, and Prime Minister Edi Rama confirmed there was no serious data breach after it was subject to a second cyberattack over the weekend.

The latest attack comes just days after Rama accused Iran of being behind a 15 July cyberattack that brought all government websites and digital citizens’ services offline. He ordered all Iranian diplomats to leave the country within 24 hours, severing all diplomatic ties with Tehran.

“Another cyber attack by the same aggressors, already exposed and condemned by Albania’s friendly and allied countries, was recorded last night on the TIMS system! Meanwhile, we continue to work around the clock with our allies to make our digital systems impenetrable,” Rama wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

Exit news on Albania Cyber-attack

But on Sunday, he confirmed the system was back up and running, and the aggressors had not achieved their goal.

“Beyond the heavy feeling created by the penetration into these systems, just like when they break into a house and steal, the fact is that the aggression has not achieved its goal at all, no disappearance or serious data leak!” Rama wrote on Twitter.

Those trying to use the TIMS system, which records every person who enters and exits the country, were confronted by a message stating, “Albania is still paying for the terrorist acts of the MEK cult in Durres; this game will continue.”

Albania is home to the MEK group (People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran), who were transferred to Albania from an Iraqi refugee camp in 2016.

The group was founded in 1965 and engaged in militant action against the Iranian government for decades before forging an alliance with Iraq and siding with them during the Iraq-Iran war.

MEK was previously designated as a terrorist organisation by the EU, Canada, US and Japan, but this was repealed. They were given protection in 2004 by the US government under the Geneva Convention.

They aim to overthrow the Iranian government, and some 1000 members live in a closed, heavily guarded compound 40km outside Tirana.

However, some analysts say it is not just due to MEK that Albania is being targeted. Albania is staunchly pro-American, a member of NATO and is home to a NATO airbase and, potentially, a future, a NATO naval base.

Lawyer and politician Kreshnik Spahiu warned that the government should be vigilant against attacks.

“The Albanian government should be alert because it is in a direct war with Iran. Albania must be very prepared militarily, even with the intelligence services, but also as a society in terms of other attacks that in the future will no longer be on the Internet and social networks, but we will have consequences and physical victims”, he said.

The US National Security Council has reacted to the latest news of the attack, stating it supports Albania’s recovery efforts.

“The United States condemns the September 9th cyberattack against our NATO Ally, Albania. This malicious activity against Albania follows the July 15 cyberattack conducted by the Government of Iran. The U.S. government is supporting Albania’s efforts to mitigate and recover.” a statement on Twitter reads.

The Director of the Civil Aviation Authority, Maksim Et’hemaj said the attack was sabotage and called for the establishment of a Crisis Coordination Committee.

“In civil aviation, what happened with the TIMS system is classified by the definition, sabotage.In such cases, in cases of sabotage, the civil aviation asks the local authorities to set up what is called the Crisis Coordination Committee. We are talking about an abnormal, unusual situation,” he told Euronews Albania.

But it is not just Albania that has witnessed such attacks. Digital services in Kosovo and North Macedonia have also been targeted over the last few days, although it is not yet known who is behind them.

Meanwhile, the MEK, in March 2021, was accused by Facebook of running a troll farm out of their base in Albania.

In a statement published on their website, Facebook said they had investigated and disrupted a “long-running operation from Albania that targeted primarily Iran.”

“The network violated our policy against foreign interference, which is coordinated inauthentic behaviour on behalf of a foreign entity,” they wrote in their in-depth report.

The National Council for Resistance in Iran, an organisation including MEK, issued a statement to the media denying any accounts affiliated with MEK have been removed. They also denied that there was a troll farm in Albania affiliated with them in any way.

Meanwhile, security expert Ergys Muzhaqi said the country should brace for more attacks in the future, including from Serbia and Russia.

“We must be very clear that further attacks will be expected. We have Russian hackers who are just as famous, although Iranians are more dangerous. We have Serbian hackers, we have hackers who would like to participate in such a situation. Albania has no time to lose to take its measures”, he told the media.

Exit.al

September 14, 2022 0 comment

Former members of the MEK

ASILA develops the book fair for the citizens of Pogradec and Korca

The association “Asila” is known as the only one in Albania which mainly contributes to the support of the Iranian community in Albania.

ASILA bookfair

Asila works with a highly qualified staff following all the legal steps to be as correct as possible with the regulation of the statute based on each legislative protocol.

Karbala by Naim Frasheri

This time, Asila organizes a social and cultural fair on a long tour from Tirana to the city of Pogradec and Korce.
It is known that there have been many citizens who have expressed interest in knowing more not only about the topics published by Asila but also about their history.

A very interesting volume was Karbala by Naim Frasheri as well and the book written by Rahman Mohamadian who had the pleasure of donating his book in many cities with the fair held with Asila.

Kristal TV – translated by Nejat Society

August 28, 2022 0 comment

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