According to Rama, the aim of the newly established state will be to promote a tolerant understanding of Islam that Albania is proud of. “We must protect this treasure, religious tolerance, and never take it for granted,” Rama emphasized.
NATO ALLIES WERE NOT INFORMED
Rama said the plan, which was known only to a few of his closest aides and that NATO allies such as the United States had not been informed, would be called the “Sovereign State of the Bektashi Order” and would be established in the capital, Tirana.
Rama, who announced that the plan would take time, added that the new state would not have an army, border guards or a court. Rama said that the state’s passport color would be green, but details such as who would be eligible to receive a passport needed to be worked out. Rama said that the reason for the plan was not a matter of property but a moral one.
IT WILL BE 1/4 THE SIZE OF THE WORLD’S SMALLEST COUNTRY
On the other hand, the Albanian Prime Ministry Press Office confirmed the content of this news published in NYT to the AA correspondent. The news states that the planned new state will be only a quarter of the size of the Vatican, the smallest country in the world.
According to the latest census data in Albania, Bektashis constitute approximately 115 thousand of the total population of approximately 2 million 400 thousand.
(AA)