President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a telephone conversation with his Tunisian counterpart, Kais Saied, late Monday, stressing the importance of democracy and the protection of freedoms in the midst of a coup that is seen as a coup.
According to a statement from the Communications Directorate, Erdoğan emphasized that Tunisia’s stability and peace were “very important to the region” and that Turkey was closely following developments in the North African country.
Erdoğan added that the Turkish government believes that Tunisia will “cope with these emergencies”, also telling its Tunisian counterpart that it is crucial to keep the Tunisian parliament functioning despite all the difficulties it faces.
In his latest speech, Saied said he would suspend the immunity of all MPs and take control of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Tunisia has suffered a deep crisis since January 16, when Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi announced a change, but Saied refused to hold a ceremony to swear in the new ministers. Tunisia is also facing an unprecedented spread of COVID-19 strains in most states, causing a rapid spread of the virus.
Tunisia is seen as the only Arab country that succeeded in carrying out a democratic transition among other Arab countries that also witnessed popular revolutions that overthrew the ruling regimes, including Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
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