President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan praised Türkiye and Albania's role in preserving regional stability and peace, as NATO members, while he hailed Tirana for siding with the Palestinian people amid the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe due to Israel's attacks in Gaza.

Speaking in a joint news conference with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Erdoğan said the two allies contribute to the preservation of peace and stability in the Balkans.

He also welcomed Albania's stance during a U.N. General Assembly vote in December, which urged an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.

He said Tirana was on the right side of history, as he noted that Albania's solidarity with the Palestinian people is vital.

Regarding the issue of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), a group that mounted a failed coup in Türkiye in 2016 but continues to infiltrate and threaten other countries, Erdoğan said: "We will not allow the nefarious network attempting to poison our relations through FETÖ to succeed; we will continue our fight against them."

Erdoğan added that Türkiye has elevated its trade volume with Albania to the level of $1 billion, and now they seek to double this to $2 billion.

For his part, Rama said it was time for a cease-fire in Gaza, as he said Türkiye is an indispensable actor in finding solutions to regional and global problems.

The two leaders signed six bilateral agreements between Türkiye and Albania following the first Türkiye-Albania High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting. The agreements included cooperation in the fields of media and communications, protection of forestry, military framework, environment and urban planning and more.