- The President of the Republic of Turkey, His Excellency Turgut Ozal, will make an official visit to the Republic of Albania at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Albania, Sali Berisha. During the visit, official talks will be held on relations between Turkey and Albania; on aspects of current and future cooperation; and on the situation in the Balkans and beyond. (ATSH)

If there has been real genocide against intellectuals, it was during the time of the Party of Labour, from which today’s DP emerged. I DO NOT FORGET The writer Dhimitër Xhuvani was vilified because he described life at the Bistrica hydroelectric plant as it was, even remembering the dogs roaming around the kitchens. He was stripped of his authors’ rights and sent to work at the Metallurgical Combine. Nor do I forget Koço Kosta’s later psychological torments over a story published in the magazine «Nëntori». The reward was this: not only was he sent to work in production, but the editor Xhevair Spahiu, though a powerful poet, was also removed from his position.. I cannot forget either the five-year ban on publishing imposed on Odise Grillo, because somewhere in a poem of his or in a book he had edited, a word had slipped through that could be misunderstood?!.. Tell me, socialist gentlemen, which intellectual was vilified by the DP for expressing his thoughts in prose, poetry, or journalistic articles? Which journalist was vilified for speaking out against the President? There are even some who have slandered people and yet continue to enjoy their freedom and hold the very same positions they had before. And as for what genocide against intellectuals is like, you would do better to ask Mr. Thanas Dino in Gjirokastër, who, for the comparison fik flet*, was condemned by the newspaper «Drita» and by Tirana as a person who had been used. Or have you forgotten all this? HOWEVER.. You must never confuse a change of administrations with genocide. Nowhere in the world is the current change of the American administration called genocide against intellectuals. It is natural that democrats will be appointed to key posts everywhere, because victory smiled on Bill Klinton. In Albania, the people gave their vote to the DP, so people whom it considers suitable will be placed in leadership positions. In America, perhaps not many changes will be made, because in general civil servants there are also appointed on the basis of ability. Here, however, things have been different. (Continued on page 2)

- Foreign Minister Alfred Serreqi departed for the People’s Republic of China, where he will make an official visit from 12 to 15 February, at the invitation of Cien Ci Cen, State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PRC. During this visit, Minister Serreqi will meet senior state officials, with whom he will discuss the further development of cooperative relations between the two countries. In this context, agreements are expected to be signed on the promotion and protection of investments, as well as on converting trade exchanges from clearing to freely convertible currency.

- Minister of Defence Safet Zhulali received a Turkish military delegation - - Minister of Defence Safet Zhulali received a Turkish delegation led by Lieutenant General Tutali. At the meeting, our Minister of Defence stressed that cooperation between the two countries and our two armies has entered a positive path, through the implementation of previously signed military agreements and the practical work of joint commissions. Naturally, he said, the NATO coordination group will also help Turkey, as a NATO member, to become further involved in assisting Albania. The head of the Turkish military delegation said that, during the four-day visit to Albania, “we became familiar firsthand with the state of your army, and is comprehensive, both for urgent needs and over the longer term. We are trying to secure a major aid package in the field of logistics. Within the framework of NATO,” he continued, “Turkey’s assistance would be quite significant. I hope this will open a new path between us and NATO.” (ATSH)

BERLIN. - The pharmaceutical company Berlin Chemie denied having taken part in the illegal export of toxic slag to Albania. Police carried out an operation in various German regions in connection with a shipment of 61 tons of material identified as toxic slag, which was being transported from Germany to Albania. Among the companies involved is Berlin Chemie, an enterprise that was state-owned in the former GDR and was privatized last May with the participation of the Menarini group of Florence.

On the first anniversary of Petrit Llaftiu’s death in the line of duty, he being the representative for the Shijak area in the first pluralist People’s Assembly, tributes were paid at his grave, and visits were made to his family by Mr. Eduart Selami and other DP leaders, members of the People’s Assembly, representatives of the Association of Former Political Prisoners and the Politically Persecuted, and others. They expressed to the family their respect and appreciation for the fruitful work this martyr carried out in the service of Albania’s fragile democracy. «RD» Correspondent

TIRANA. - A convoy of 10 trucks headed for Serbia, carrying a shipment of 200 tons of urea, was detained by Albanian finance guards in Elbasan. The convoy was loaded with urea, a substance that can also be used to manufacture explosives, and was officially supposed to transport it to Slovenia. The finance guards stopped the trucks as they were heading toward the border with Macedonia. (ATSH)

On 10 February 1993, a meeting of the Albanian Journalists’ Association was held. The leadership reaffirmed once again that the Association brings together all journalists in Albania on the basis of professional criteria, without ... 2. In parallel with drafting the Association’s draft statute, members are to be registered and the Association’s legal issues are to be resolved. 3. To take over the assets of the former union of journalists—

On 10 February 1993, a meeting of the Albanian Journalists’ Association was held. The leadership reaffirmed once again that the Association brings together all journalists in Albania on the basis of professional criteria, regardless of their beliefs and party affiliation. criteria, regardless of their beliefs and party affiliation. The leadership decided: 1. To establish a commission to draft the statute of the Journalists’ Association, chaired by its chairman, Mero Baze. The draft statute will be prepared by the end of March and submitted for discussion in press editorial offices during April. 2. In parallel with drafting the the assets of the former union of journalists on the basis of the decision to dissolve the two former organizations. 4. After discussion of the statute, to hold the general meeting of the Journalists’ Association to approve the statute and hold regular elections for the Association’s governing bodies on the basis of that statute.

An unusual funeral ceremony was held on 10.2.1993 in Shijak. Residents of the town, along with people who had come from villages in the area and from Durrës, bade a final farewell (after 48 years) to the patriot and martyr Minella Toçi, who was brutally killed on 3 November 1944 at Qafë-Kishë in the village of Sharr, Tirana, together with four other patriots, by a unit of the Albanian National Liberation Army. On this occasion, a memorial rally was organized in the town’s main square, attended by thousands of people. Also present were Mr. Azem Hajdari, deputy for the Shijak area; Mr. Uran Butka and Ndue Gjika, deputies in the People’s Assembly; Mr. Osman Kazazi, chairman of the Association of Former Political Prisoners and Persecuted Persons; officials of the PD and local authorities in Shijak and Durrës, and others. After the national anthem was played, the rally was opened by Mr. Bashkim Seiti, secretary of the town municipality. Mr. Skënder Dika, mayor, spoke about the life and active political and patriotic work of this democratic fighter. Then Mr. Edmir Kapidani offered greetings on behalf of the PD of Durrës. Mr. Shefqet Jakova, the deceased’s contemporary and friend (now a propagator of the Islamic faith), shared with those present memories of the martyr’s life and activities in the struggle for liberation. On behalf of the people of Mirdita, the deputy for that area, Mr. Ndue Gjika, offered greetings. Finally, on behalf of the family, Mr. Vlash Toçi thanked those attending the funeral. Then the coffin containing the remains of the massacred martyr set off for the cemetery, accompanied by those who had attended the rally. As the coffin was lowered into the grave, a firing squad accompanied it with three volleys. Meanwhile, religious rites continued throughout the funeral ceremony; they had begun earlier at the church in Durrës. RD correspondent

From the PARLIAMENTARY WEEK A social solution to the housing problem of emigrants - Among other things, an amendment to the law “On the privatization of state-owned housing” concerning the housing problem of emigrants is approved The start of the People’s Assembly’s work for the week on Monday afternoon, in addition to approving the agenda, discussing the agenda, the request for question sessions with several ministers, and the problem of the banking scandal, also featured a debate between deputy Hajdari and Doza concerning the «ZP» newspaper’s speculation, etc., about issues in Albania-Greece relations. On Tuesday, in accordance with the agenda, the draft law “On an amendment to the law ‘On state enterprises’” was discussed and approved, as was the draft law “On certain amendments to Law No. 7521, dated 30.10.1991, ‘On social assistance for persons who become unemployed as a result of the implementation of Economic Reform,’ as amended by Law No. 7579, dated 2.7.1992.” At the beginning of Wednesday’s session, the deputy chairman of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly, Mr. Tomor Malasi, invited the deputies present in the chamber to observe one minute of silence in memory of former deputy Petrit Llaftiu, who lost his life in Italy on 10 February 1992 while carrying out his state duties; amended by Law No. 7579, dated 2.7.1992,” was also discussed. The draft law “On an amendment to Law No. 7652, dated 23.12.1992, ‘On the privatization of state-owned housing’” was then discussed in connection with the housing problem of emigrants. In addition to the version proposed by deputy Arben Meçe together with a group of deputies, another version was also presented by the government, proposed by the Minister of Construction, Mr. Ilir Manushi. Both versions were then distributed to the deputies for their information and further discussion in the parliamentary groups. (Continued on page 4)

Whenever RTSH has shown ceremonies honoring Albanian intellectuals, among other things our curse has also fallen upon the communist cause and its people, who violated the human right to free thought and the space to live outside the confines of the communist state, and who sent intellectuals of national thought to their graves in chains. These are precisely the dregs of the nation and pseudo-intellectuals of the ilk of Spartak Braho who today supposedly weep over the plight of today’s Albanian intellectuals. They are precisely these blind lackeys of Enverian dictatorship and of the abuse of the law, exemplified by Spartak Bra-ho, who has rightly been stripped of the opportunity to practice law for forgery, yet takes it upon himself to defend intellectuals in the article “The genocide against intellectuals brings the complete discrediting of the PD” (ZP, dated 10.2.1993). It is a disgrace for Albanian intellectuals to allow a man publicly discredited throughout Durrës, such as Spartak Braho, to speak on their behalf—a man whom Durrës branded long ago and who has nothing at all to do with the respected intellectuals of the PS, at least as we understand them. It is a great disgrace for intellectuals that people who truly are communist sewer-rats like Spartak Braho, a loyal lackey of the PP, a shadow elevated to power thanks to family ties with the Hoxha family and Grad-eci, should curse Albanian democracy in a loud voice and stigmatize national intellectual thought. It is a great disgrace for the PS and the newspaper «ZP» to publish such reports, delivered at secret meetings of the outlawed Communist Party. This proves the neonazi and anticommunist tendencies of the PS; it proves beyond doubt the Enverist foundation of the PS; it proves that it is led by the dangerous clan of the former state security service, from the center down to the grassroots. Is Spartak Braho himself not a pawn of the state security service, continuing his father’s work with the same devotion, the same ferocity and sadism as his father? There you have him: this is the mediocrity Spartak Braho, the anti-intellectual who to this day lives in a villa forcibly taken from an honest former owner, as a gift from his party. In his article, S. Braho accuses the PD of pursuing anti-intellectual policies and settling scores, and of having a “blue bulletin” circulated in its sections, etc. Such claims are the outpourings of blind former security agents and the dead heralds of the PP (S). The attack on the PD in that article and in all the other writings on this subject is delusional. The PD has no blue bulletin. Every paragraph of its program clearly expresses a humane outlook, tolerance, and understanding. The PD has remained, and will remain, faithful to its program, now known throughout the world as a contemporary program that has undertaken to build the Albanian democratic state and democratic society. It is perfectly natural for this program also to involve difficulties related to welfare assistance and unemployment, but these will be temporary. The PD has guaranteed by law the right to property, the right to practice one’s profession, etc. But it is also a fact that the former red bosses have become economic bosses, dollar adventurers and instigators of corruption. It is just as true that thousands of former prisoners live in difficult housing and living conditions, and thousands of democrats are receiving assistance and submit without complaint to the laws of reform. Mr. Braho is so far gone that he compares Albania to fascism. You, communist, even if the situation you fantasize about lasted just one hour, you would end up where hundreds of thousands of Albanians, spied on and condemned by your father, you, and your comrades, ended up. But there you are: this is democracy, which allows even you, a product of dictatorship, to strike the pose of a martyred saint. Nevertheless, the world of law must put a stop to such unfounded accusations that seek to destabilize and call for revolt. This shows that the old machinery of the former state security service and the red nomenklatura operates with pathological malice. Haven’t they been cut off long ago—shall we show them where they belong? MUJE BUÇPAPAJ