{"id":142,"date":"2025-11-13T14:22:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T14:22:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/?p=142"},"modified":"2026-01-31T12:02:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T12:02:34","slug":"e35-million-for-the-turkish-partners-of-the-vlora-airport-and-llogara-tunnel-and-the-charter-of-sinan-idrizi-used-by-rama-as-erdogans-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/?p=142","title":{"rendered":"\u20ac35 million for the Turkish partners of the Vlora Airport & Llogara Tunnel and the charter of Sinan Idrizi used by Rama as Erdogan\u2019s \u201cgift\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The threads connecting Tirana and Ankara across at least three multi-million-euro projects<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The conflict between the shareholders of Vlora International Airport<\/em>, Behgjet Pacolli and Valon Ademi, is exposing a network of figures and interests that go far beyond the two Kosovar businessmen, stretching across Albania and Turkey. Since the scandal broke, the story of Vlora Airport is increasingly taking shape as a knot where business and politics intersect between Tirana and Ankara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, SPAK\u2019s investigations into another major public infrastructure project \u2014 the Llogara Tunnel \u2014 lead to the same character constellation and the same political-economic links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

VLORA AIRPORT<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Behgjet Pacolli publicly stated in his interview with Blendi Fevziu that he entered the Vlora Airport project through a Turkish businessman, a close associate of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Pacolli said that a man named Hysen had called him proposing to jointly build the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI received a phone call from someone in Turkey whom I had known in Kazakhstan years earlier \u2014 someone called Hysen. He told me he had received a call from the Turkish Presidency to travel to Albania with two tasks: first, to build a hospital, and second, that there was an airport there which we could co-finance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after, Pacolli formed a consortium with YDA Group<\/em> to build the Vlora Airport, initially valued at \u20ac104 million. The current cost, according to Pacolli, has reached \u20ac140 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But who is behind YDA Group<\/em>, and why did a Turkish company have to be inserted into a project of such strategic importance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VLORA AIRPORT \u2013 ERDOGAN \u2013 YDA GROUP<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The concession for Vlora Airport was awarded in April 2021. One year later, YDA Group<\/em> withdrew and sold its 47% share to Pacolli. The sale was registered at the QKB for just \u20ac4,450<\/strong>. In reality, Pacolli said he paid the Turkish partners \u20ac3 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said that when he went to Balluku\u2019s office \u2014 invited by the same Turkish businessman Hysen (YDA\u2019s head is named H\u00fcseyin Arslan<\/strong>) \u2014 everything seemed pre-arranged, exactly as Hysen had told him it had been coordinated from the Turkish Presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

YDA Group<\/em> is led by H\u00fcseyin Arslan<\/strong>, who has close ties to President Erdogan and the ruling AKP. Arslan\u2019s sister is married to the uncle of one of AKP\u2019s founders. He publicly praised Erdogan after the 2016 coup attempt and received an award from Erdogan in 2018. YDA Group is known for winning numerous state tenders in Turkey, including major PPP infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This raises the question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Were the construction of the \u201cMemorial\u201d Hospital in Fier and the Vlora Airport also products of Erdogan\u2019s political favoritism and the personal alliance between Erdogan and Rama?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

LLOGARA TUNNEL \u2013 ERDOGAN \u2013 ASL \u0130N\u015eAAT<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

One year before Vlora Airport, the Albanian government awarded the concession for the Llogara Tunnel \u2014 an even more expensive project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winners in 2020 were Turkish companies Intekar Yapi<\/strong> and ASL \u0130n\u015faat<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, the Albanian Road Authority had opened the tender at around \u20ac102 million<\/strong>. In December that year, the Albanian company Gjoka Konstruksion<\/em> won with a bid of \u20ac140 million including VAT<\/strong>. But in early 2019, the government cancelled the procedure, citing the need for \u201ctechnical project review and reassessment of costs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intekar & ASL won the new tender with a \u20ac172 million<\/strong> offer. After winning, they subcontracted the entire project back to Gjoka<\/strong> for \u20ac140 million<\/strong>, pocketing an immediate \u20ac32 million profit<\/strong> \u2014 without bringing a single machine to Albania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Arben Ahmetaj, not a single piece of equipment was ever transported to Albania by the Turkish companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officially, the cancellation was justified with \u201cnew geological studies,\u201d but political and business circles widely believed the decision was made under political pressure to hand the project to Turkish companies close to Erdogan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ASL \u0130n\u015faat<\/strong> is owned by Abdulkadir Kart<\/strong>, former AKP MP from Rize \u2014 Erdogan\u2019s home region \u2014 and a long-time close friend of Erdogan. Erdogan was even the best man at Kart\u2019s son\u2019s wedding in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Llogara Tunnel scandal grows, more voices in Turkey are also questioning whether Erdogan personally pushed for the tender to be awarded to his ally\u2019s company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

AIR ALBANIA \u2013 SINAN IDRIZI \u2013 THE \u201cISMAILI\u201d PLANE USED BY RAMA \u2013 ERDOGAN<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Two years before the Llogara Tunnel tender, another Turkish company tied to Erdogan appeared in Albania. In May 2018, Air Albania<\/strong> was founded as a partnership between:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Turkish Airlines<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 49%<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • MDN Investment<\/strong>\u00a0of the controversial businessman\u00a0Sinan Idrizi<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 41%<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Albcontrol<\/strong>\u00a0(Albanian state) \u2013 10%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    During the Rinas ceremony, Rama and Erdogan unveiled the \u201cIsmaili\u201d<\/em> Airbus A319, formerly a Turkish government aircraft, which was transferred to Air Albania in December 2018 and began operating charter flights in early 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Erdogan-controlled structure of Turkish Airlines<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Turkish Airlines is not a normal commercial airline. It is a foreign policy instrument directly controlled by Erdogan through the Turkey Wealth Fund. Erdogan personally appoints the leadership. The airline\u2019s global expansion into strategic regions \u2014 including the Balkans \u2014 is widely recognized as part of Turkey\u2019s geopolitical influence strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ilker Ayc\u0131, CEO from 2015 to 2022, was Erdogan\u2019s former personal advisor. He was replaced by another figure close to AKP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Turkish Airlines is co-shareholder in several politically controlled ventures, including Air Albania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Rama\u2019s 150+ flights with \u201cIsmaili\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Rama has used the \u201cIsmaili\u201d aircraft in over 150 international flights<\/strong>. The model \u2014 an Airbus A319-132 \u2014 is worth roughly \u20ac30 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Opposition estimates show that until 2023, when the flight manifests were leaked by Iranian hackers, Rama had already accumulated \u20ac22 million<\/strong> in charter costs. After that, another year and a half of flights could push the total above \u20ac30 million<\/strong> \u2014 a number surprisingly close to the amount pocketed by Turkish companies from Vlora Airport and Llogara Tunnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Neither the Albanian government nor Air Albania has published the usage contract, cost breakdown, or financial agreements. Transparency requests have been refused. Air Albania has also failed to publish financial statements for five consecutive years<\/strong>, in clear violation of Albanian law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Idrizi\u2013Rama\u2013Erdogan triangle<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Sinan Idrizi claimed he has known Erdogan for 25 years and says he created MDN Investment<\/em> at the request of the Albanian government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Idrizi has appeared in both official and informal meetings involving Erdogan and Rama. During Erdogan\u2019s 2022 visit to Albania, Idrizi was photographed among the inner-circle guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    He also appeared with Rama in Madrid during a meeting with Real Madrid president Florentino P\u00e9rez \u2014 though Rama removed Idrizi from the photos he posted online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Idrizi appears linked to several other controversial concessions, including the fuel marking concession, involving Turkish businesswoman and honorary Albanian consul Nerve Korkmaz<\/strong>, reportedly close to Idrizi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Turkish businessman Adnan Polat<\/strong>, owner of Galatasaray, has accused Idrizi of defrauding him of \u20ac3.5 million and stated in a legal filing that they discussed the matter directly with Edi Rama<\/strong>, who gave his approval for the concession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Polat appears to be the only Turkish businessman who did not<\/em> benefit from the Albania\u2013Turkey network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    The emerging picture<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

    The Vlora Airport deal, the Llogara Tunnel contract, the Air Albania partnership, and the \u201cIsmaili\u201d aircraft form a chain of interconnected interests<\/strong> linking Tirana, Vlora, and Ankara. At the center of these links stand two names:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Edi Rama & Recep Tayyip Erdogan<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    \u2014with Sinan Idrizi<\/strong> as the strategic intermediary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Others \u2014 Pacolli, Hysen, Ademi, Gjoka, Balluku, etc. \u2014 appear as \u201cuseful idiots\u201d<\/em> facilitating the flow of millions of euros from Albania to Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    FACTS<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Behgjet Pacolli<\/strong>\u00a0paid around\u00a0\u20ac3 million<\/strong>\u00a0to buy the shares of YDA Group\u2019s Turkish partners \u2014 a company closely tied to Erdogan.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • ASL \u0130n\u015faat<\/strong>, winner of the Llogara Tunnel tender, owned by an AKP politician and Erdogan ally, earned\u00a0\u20ac32 million<\/strong>\u00a0without performing any actual work or bringing machinery to Albania.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Air Albania<\/strong>, created in 2018, provided the\u00a0\u201cIsmaili\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0plane used for Rama\u2019s trips, costing an estimated\u00a0\u20ac22\u201330 million<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The\u00a0\u20ac35 million<\/strong>\u00a0transferred to Turkey through the Vlora and Llogara projects roughly matches the estimated cost of Rama\u2019s flights \u2014 raising suspicion of an\u00a0indirect repayment scheme<\/strong>, where publicly funded contracts in Albania compensate Erdogan-linked companies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Neither the Albanian government nor Air Albania has released the relevant financial documents. This concealment makes the entire network a legitimate subject for SPAK investigation \u2014 potentially requiring cooperation with Turkish authorities, as the scandal could be much larger on the Turkish side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The threads connecting Tirana and Ankara across at least three multi-million-euro projects The conflict between the shareholders of Vlora International Airport, Behgjet Pacolli and Valon Ademi, is exposing a network of figures and interests that go far beyond the two Kosovar businessmen, stretching across Albania and Turkey. Since the scandal broke, the story of Vlora Airport […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"jnews_post_split":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,88,22],"tags":[52,51,47,49,48,50],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-albania","category-kryesore","category-politics","tag-abdulkadir-kart","tag-albania","tag-edi-rama","tag-erdogan","tag-sinan-idrizi","tag-vlora-airport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions\/146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gazetaalbania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}