date back to the 1890s, when Albania was still part of the Ottoman Empire. The protestant family Qirjazi, most notably the sisters Sevasti Qiriazi, Parashqevi and their brothers Gjerasim Qiriazi and Gjergj Qiriazi, had opened the first girls' school in Albanian language, in Korçë. After getting threatened by Turkish and Greek officials, the family demanded financial aid from American Protestant philanthropist groups. On March 26, 1908, the American Protestant charities arrived in Korçë; Phineas Barbour Kennedy and his wife Violet R. Kennedy, daughter of the Protestant missionary Luis Bond. Therefore, the school remained opened with American financial and defensive aid until 1939. In the 1920s, the two first technical and vocational schools in Albania were founded with American support: The Harry Fultz Institute in Tirana was built with financial support from the American Red Cross in 1921, in 1925 the "Albanian-American Schools of Agriculture" in Golem, Kavajë was founded by Charles Telford Erickson with support from the State Department and the American Embassy in Tirana. Since fiscal year 1991, the U.S. has provided Albania with more than $616 million in assistance, not counting Foreign Agricultural Service food aid. In 2007, the U.S. gave over $21.1 million to Albania under the Support for East European Democracy Act program. Albania was among the countries selected to participate in the Threshold Program under the Millennium Challenge Account, receiving a grant of $13.8 million. In September 2006, Albania began implementation of the program, which targets corruption and rule of law. Arms trade The United States sold $144,984,841 worth of weapons to Albania between 1950 and 2020. In 2020 alone, Albania purchased American arms worth $42,284,081, representing one third of the country's total historical purchases from the United States. Global War on Terrorism Albania has supported the U.S. in the global Global War on Terrorism by freezing terrorist assets, shutting down non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with possible links to terrorist financing, expelling extremists, and providing military and diplomatic support for the U.S.-led actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Albania has played a moderating role in the region and has fully supported UN mediation efforts in Kosovo. Albania also has 600 elite soldiers deployed in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force, and 240 troops as part of Multi-National Force – Iraq. Death of Osama bin Laden The President of the Republic, Prof. Dr. Bamir Topi, through a message conveyed to U.S. President Barack Obama, commended