Tunisia to appoint ambassador in Damascus

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen Net
3 Apr 2023 23:53
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Today, Tunisian President Kais Saied issued directives in regard to re-establishing with Syria by appointing an ambassador to Damascus

Tunisia's President Kais Saied in a meeting with police officers on July 25, 2021 (AP)

Today, Tunisian President Kais Saied issued directives in regard to re-establishing with Syria by appointing an ambassador to Damascus

Earlier in March, Tunisian President Kais Saied pointed out that he plans to restore diplomatic relations with Syria, elevating them to a higher level, whereby ambassadors are exchanged, more than a decade after they were broken off. The Tunisian President indicated that the "question of the regime in Syria concerns only the Syrians," rejecting any interference in the affairs and choices of others. Saied’s proclamation was considered at the time the latest indication that restoring a full return to diplomatic relations with Syria will be imminent.

Back in February, in a meeting with Tunisian Foreign minister Nabil Ammar, Saied the Tunisian people's support for the Syrian people, pointing out that the issue of the "Syrian regime" is an internal matter of concern.

In this context, Saied spoke about what he described as "many historical steps that Syria has gone through since the beginning of the twentieth century, and arrangements that have taken place since that time to divide it."

Tunisia expelled Syria's Ambassador in 2012 over the war in the country. The diplomatic rupture, undertaken when former President Moncef Marzouki was still in office, was strongly criticized by the opposition at the time.

In 2015, Tunisia took a step toward re-establishing relations when it designated a consular representative to Syria to follow the situation of Tunisians in the war-torn country.

Seeking to track down more than 3,000 extremist Tunisian fighters who were fighting alongside terrorist organizations in Syria, Tunisia returned a limited diplomatic mission to Syria in 2017.