Together with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Edi Rama inaugurated the Et'hem Bey Mosque in Tirana, restored by TIKA, the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency. 

Throughout his speech, Rama expressed his gratitude to Erdogan, for his support and the friendship. Rama said that soon, thanks to the work that is being done, the work for the rebirth of the Lead Mosque in Shkodra will begin. 

"It is a pleasure and a special honour for me to be here together with a great friend of Albanians, President Erdogan. Sorry for the delay as a result of a busy president's agenda and your reception here is a touching testament to a brotherly love for him. You know the tragic history of religion in Albania and the history of the objects of religion, barbarism in the time of communism. In Albania after the fall of the dictatorship, the wounds and troubles were innumerable and the restoration of religious buildings remained neglected. I believe that these objects, mosques, churches, tekkes belong to our soul, our memory and should definitely be taken care of.. 

In our attempt to revive all this we have found great support in Erdogan. Thanks to his care and the commitment of TIKA, today we have some of the jewels of religion like this mosque as one of the mirrors where our connection with the Turkish people is seen. I am closing my speech saying that soon, thanks to the work that is being done, the work for the rebirth of the Lead Mosque in Shkodra, one of our cultural pearls, will begin."