Syria’s diplomatic relations to be restored by Tunisia’s Saied
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Alaina
- . March 11, 2023
- . Update: March 11, 2023 10:11 pm
The latest indication that full diplomatic contacts with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad may be about to resume is the Friday statement by Tunisian President Kais Saied that he wishes to see ambassadors appointed to both Tunisia and Syria.
According to a meeting video shared on Facebook by the president’s office, Saied informed the foreign minister, Nabil Ammar, “A decision must be made on this matter.”
To protest Assad’s ruthless assault on pro-democracy protests in 2011, which turned into a civil war and resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and millions of displaced people, Tunisia severed diplomatic ties with Syria nearly ten years ago.
After Saied assumed nearly complete power in July 2021 in what his political rivals have referred to as a coup, Tunisia has made it clear it is open to changing its attitude toward Syria in international relations.
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In 2017, Tunisia reactivated a small diplomatic presence in Syria, in part to assist in the tracking of the more than 3,000 Tunisian militants fighting there.
Although Tunisia added a diplomat to its diplomatic mission in Damascus last month, it is widely anticipated that the foreign ministry will soon nominate an ambassador thereafter the president stated that a choice must be made.
Political analysts say that Assad is attempting to gain political advantage from the earthquakes that occurred in Syria and Turkey last month by pushing for foreign help to be supplied through his territory in an effort to lessen his current level of isolation internationally.
Including rescue and civil protection personnel, Tunisia sent relief aircraft to Syria, which landed at Aleppo airport under the control of Assad’s administration.
