Erdogan’s statements shake Tunisian-Turkish ties
Diplomatic and economic relations between Tunisia and Turkey are at stake in the wake of statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following President Kais Saied’s decision to dissolve parliament.
TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has recently rejected any foreign interference in his country’s internal affairs.
Speaking at an April 6 ceremony commemorating the 22nd anniversary of the death of former President Habib Bourguiba in the Monastir governorate in northeastern Tunisia, Saied said Tunisia is not an Ottoman state, in reference to the Ottoman Empire that occupied many Arab countries for years.
Saied’s remarks came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the dissolution of the Tunisian parliament by Saied in late March.
In remarks carried by a Turkish Presidency statement on April 4, Erdogan — who is close to the Islamist Ennahda party in Tunisia that represented the largest parliamentary bloc in the now-dissolved parliament — described Saied’s move as a “coup against the constitution, a smearing of democracy and a blow to the will of the Tunisian people.”
