Turkey’s Erdogan inaugurates a Turkish-funded mosque in Albania's capital

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Turkey’s president traveled Thursday to Albania’s capital to inaugurate a Turkish-funded mosque with 50-meter-high (160-foot-high) minarets as part of a trip to boost ties and discuss regional issues.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said that his country would give an unspecified number of drones to boost military capabilities in Albania, whose population is slightly more than 50% Muslim.

The new Namazgah mosque in Tirana is one of the largest in the Balkans.

Erdogan met with Albanian President Bajram Begaj and later with Prime Minister Edi Rama, with whom he has close ties. Following a meeting of top officials from both countries, the two sides signed agreements to boost cooperation in agriculture and education.

Turkey is a strategic partner of Albania and one of its largest investors, contributing to infrastructure and other sectors. Erdogan said the two countries should aim to double their annual trade to 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion).

At a briefing after the meetings, Rama said Turkey's gift of military drones sends a “very clear message” that “Albania cannot be attacked.”

In comments touching on regional issues, Erdogan denounced Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza as a “genocide” and a “threat to the global order.” He said Israel must pressured into an urgently needed ceasefire to facilitate humanitarian aid.

Rama also pushed for a ceasefire, but took a different tone on the Palestinian group, saying that “Hamas and any other source of terror have no place in a peaceful future of two sovereign states, Israel and Palestine.”

Construction of the new mosque was started in 2015 with some 30 million euros ($34 million) from the state-run Turkish Muslim organization Diyanet.

The construction already had been completed for more than a year, but the inauguration was delayed because of Erdogan’s concerns that a group that Turkey calls the Fetullah Terrorist Organization, or FETO, would have influence over the mosque.

Under agreements reached with the local Albanian Muslim community, Turkey's Diyanet organization will have representation on the mosque's governing board.

Turkey says that FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated a failed coup in Turkey on July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and nearly 2,200 wounded. Gulen has denied any involvement.

In addition to the four minarets, the Namazgah mosque has a central dome of 30 meters and the capacity to hold 8,000 people. It sits on a 10,000-square-meter parcel of land near Albania's parliament, and the first floor includes a cultural center.

The site is near landmark Catholic and Orthodox cathedrals.

Sunni Muslims make up nearly 46% of Albania's population, and Bektashi Muslims another 5%. Catholics are 8% and Orthodox Christians 7%, according to a 2023 census. The various religious groups live together peacefully without tensions.

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Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, right, shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a join news conference after they sing bilateral agreements in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, right, exchange envelops with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after they sing bilateral agreements in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference with Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama after their meeting in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, speaks during a join news conference with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after their meeting, in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan looks on during a news conference with Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, after their meeting, in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, right, speaks next Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a join news conference and after their meeting, in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claps hands during a news conference with Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, after after they sing bilateral agreements in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj) i

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, right, shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a join news conference after they sing bilateral agreements in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj)

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, left, welcomes Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before their meeting in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, left, escorts Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before their meeting in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)

Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, left, welcomes Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before their meeting in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waves as Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, welcomes him before their meeting in Tirana, Albania, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)

The path for the NFL's Washington Commanders to return to the nation’s capital is clear after an on-again, off-again saga in Congress ended early Saturday with a postmidnight reprieve.

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution to transfer the land including old RFK Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia. The D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act passed by voice vote at roughly 1:15 a.m. after more than a year of lobbying and support from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., district Mayor Muriel Bowser, Commanders controlling owner Josh Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“We are extremely grateful that our elected officials have come together on a bipartisan basis to give Washington, D.C., the opportunity to decide on the future of the RFK Stadium site," Harris said. "This bill will create an equal playing field so that all potential future locations for the home of the Washington Commanders can be fairly considered and give our franchise the opportunity to provide the best experience for all of our fans.”

The RFK Stadium land provision was part of Congress’ initial short-term spending bill Tuesday before it was torpedoed by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the latter of whom amplified misinformation about the site on his social media platform X. Two versions of the House's slimmed-down bill, including the one that passed Friday night to avoid a government shutdown, did not include it.

Giving the local government control of the land for the next 99 years allows for the decaying husk of the old stadium to be torn down and the site redeveloped for any number of things. One of the possibilities is a football stadium and surrounding entertainment options at the franchise's former home.

Bowser called it “a win for D.C., for our region and for America.”

“Everybody loves a good comeback story — and that’s D.C.’s story,” she said.

All that awaits is President Joe Biden's signature to become law. Comer went as far as saying that Senate passage of the bill is “a historic moment for our nation's capital.”

“If Congress failed to act today, this decaying land in Washington would continue to cost taxpayers a fortune to maintain,” he said. “Revitalizing this RFK Memorial Stadium site has been a top economic priority for the city, and I am proud to have partnered with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to get this bill across the finish line and to the president’s desk. This bipartisan success is a testament to the House Oversight Committee’s unwavering effort to protect taxpayers and our full commitment to ensuring a capital that is prosperous for residents and visitors for generations to come.”

Playing in Washington again is no sure thing. The Commanders are considering places in the district, Maryland and Virginia to build a stadium in the coming years.

Their lease at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, runs through 2027. Harris called 2030 a “reasonable target” for a new stadium.

The team played at RFK Stadium 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) east of the Capitol from 1961-96 before moving to Maryland. Harris and several co-owners, including Mitch Rales and Mark Ein, grew up as Washington football fans during that era, which included the glory days of three Super Bowl championships from 1982-91.

Part of the way the provision got into the bill initially involved an agreement between the team and Maryland to tear down the current stadium in a timely fashion and redevelop the site with a project of equal economic impact, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press earlier this week on condition of anonymity because the deal was not being publicized.

After the Senate greenlit the RFK Stadium land transfer, Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats, said they continued to believe their state's partnership with the team should continue long into the future.

“After working to level the financial playing field, and receiving assurances that should the team move they will redevelop the existing site in a manner that meets the needs of the community, tonight we supported the proposed land transfer legislation,” Cardin and Van Hollen said. "We have always supported the District’s effort to control its own land, and through regional discussions and cooperation, our concerns with this proposal have been addressed.”

The team has played games in Maryland since 1997 and practices in Ashburn, Virginia, not far from Dulles International Airport.

A return to the district would be another victory for Bowser, who on Thursday celebrated the start of an $800 million downtown arena renovation that is keeping the NBA's Wizards and NHL's Capitals in town. At that news conference, she took aim at Musk for sharing incorrect information on X, formerly Twitter, about taxpayers footing the bill for a new stadium.

“It was stated that the (continuing resolution) contains $3 billion for a stadium,” Bowser said. "All wrong. There are no federal dollars related to the transfer of RFK, and in fact the legislation does not require or link at all to a stadium. We’re talking about how the District can invest in removing blight.”

Musk reshared an inaccurate post saying: “Buried in the 1,547-page omnibus bill is a provision to facilitate a $3 billion NFL stadium in Washington, D.C." with the message, “This should not be funded by your tax dollars!”

The bill specifically prohibits the use of federal funds for a stadium on the site, “including training facilities, offices, and other structures necessary to support a stadium.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

FILE - A vehicle pushes up pikes of snow after trucks dump their loads of snow in the parking lots of RFK Stadium in Washington, Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)