Restricting and expelling MKO, the demand of Albanians from the government

The People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI), mostly known as MKO (Mojāhedin-e Khalq Organization), was a paramilitary organization founded in 1965 in Iran. After the overthrow of Mohammadreza Pahlavi and the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, this organization, claiming to be the main factor in achieving the Islamic Revolution, started to stir up hostility towards the new Islamic government of Iran. In 1981, the MKO declared an armed struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Carrying out several terrorist operations on large and small scales, the organization made more than 17,000 martyrs of Iranians. The two most important operations of MKO were the bombing of the prime minister's office and headquarters of the Islamic Republic Party (IRP) of Iran, which caused the martyrdom of the president, prime minister, head of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran and more than seventy leading officials of Iran. After fleeing from Iran, the organization relocated to Iraq, and Saddam Hussein, the dictator of Iraq, welcomed it with open arms. In Iraq, they took up weapons against their own country and participated in two operations against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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In early 1988, Iran and Iraq accepted a cease-fire agreement under the terms of UN Resolution 598. However, under the delusion that they could conquer Tehran in a few days, the MKO, with the support of Saddam Hussein's army, attacked Iran and crossed the borders, committing ferocious and ruthless felonies like hanging and burning innocent people. Though pretending to be the claimant of human rights and the legitimate alternative to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the MKO today is doing its best to slam the Islamic Republic of Iran.

After about 25 years of residing in Iraq and following the overthrow of the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein, the organization was expelled from this country and resettled in Albania with the financial support of some Arab countries and the direct support of the United States.

Since 2016 and from the moment that MKO entered Albania, the people of this country never had a quiet and peaceful life. If we use the words of Olsi Yarchi, an Albanian journalist, as a criterion, the people of Albania have not been willing to accept the People's Mojahedin Khalq organization in their country. He says: "Mojahedin-e- Khalq (MEK) did not come to this country by the invitation of Albanian people, but they were imposed on Albania by Obama in 2016.”

He refers to this infliction in various interviews with international media, pointing out that today the people of Albania are totally against the presence of the members of the People's Mojahedin Organization in their country and strongly protest against this issue.

This Albanian journalist says:

"People of Albania know that MKO is a terrorist organization that had been placed on the foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) list by the United States and the European Union until 2012. Albanians are very concerned about their government hosting MKO. Many have protested in the past and demanded deporting the organization. yet, the government tried to stop the protests by intimidating the citizens and not allowing them to raise any questions.”

However, Albanians, especially citizens of Tirana and Durres-cities located near MKO camp-have strongly protested against the presence of MKO in Albania; Yet, each time, these protests were repressed violently.

Nevertheless, the people of Albania have not given up on their demands and have protested in different ways. The most recent example of these protests was in Durres, where they objected to constructing a cemetery near the Ashraf camp, condemning this action by holding a demonstration that led to violence.

These protests, which show people's discontent with the presence of MKO in Albania, should make the authorities realize that the people of their country consider this organization to the detriment of their country and see it very disruptive to their security and peace. Therefore, the government must stand against this organization and restrict its actions. A practical measure can be preventing MKO to hold annual meetings in Albania and France.

The authorities of Albania should see people's demands and prevent MKO from holding political meetings in Albania with ex-political figures since these meetings will bring very negative security consequences for the people and the whole country.

The next step would be demanding the expulsion of this terrorist organization from Albania, as their behavior has turned into a cult. Edi Rama mentioned in his interview with Albanian news agencies that if MKO does not stop its political activity, it should leave Albania. After this speech MKO did not stop its activities, they started their troll farm again which is responsible for making negative propaganda against Iran, and also they started their political meetings that they recently held a meeting in France. The activities of this group are against Albanian law and have put the lives of Albanian people in danger. Albanian government can easily observe the MKO's activities in Albania and this is the time they should make their decision to expel MKO or let them turn this country into a political platform or a trench in their fight against Iran.