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Tunisia appointed an ambassador to Syria to fully restore their diplomatic relations. Earlier, www.trendsnafrica.com reported that the two countries have taken a decision to normalize diplomatic relations.
Tunisia appointed an ambassador to Syria to fully restore their diplomatic relations. Earlier, www.trendsnafrica.com reported that the two countries have taken a decision to normalize diplomatic relations. The new Syrian Ambassador – Mohamed Mhadhbi -presented his credentials to Tunisian President Kais Saied during a ceremony at Carthage Palace.
The two countries severed diplomatic relations in 2012 after the start of the war in Syria. During the civil war, President Bashar Assad was involved in a brutal crackdown on mass protests against his rule. Recently, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad had a meeting with Tunisian counterpart Nabil Ammar. Both parties did not reveal any details of the meeting at that time, except a statement from the Tunisian Department of Foreign Affairs that the meeting was meant to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring pro-democracy movements. That spread to Syria in 2011. At that time Tunisia was a critic of Assad’s authoritarian rule. Paradoxically, now Tunisia’s leadership is swinging back toward authoritarianism. Earlier this month, Tunisian President Kais Saied ordered the appointment of an ambassador to the Syrian capital, Damascus, following the decision of the Syrian government to reopen its embassy in Tunis and appoint an ambassador.
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In February, Saied announced his decision to raise the level of Tunisian diplomatic representation in Damascus, while stressing that the crisis facing Assad’s government was an internal matter that concerned only the Syrian people. The move was made at the same time Tunisia was sending urgent humanitarian aid to Syria following the earthquake that killed tens of thousands in the country and neighboring Turkey. Last week, Mikdad also traveled to Saudi Arabia to announce they were moving toward reopening embassies and resuming flights for the first time in more than a decade. It may be recalled that Syria was widely shunned by Arab governments over Assad’s brutal crackdown on protesters in 2011.
