Syria-Tunisia détente: Will it divulge Ennahda’s support to terrorism in Syria?

Sara Rashad

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Tunisia in the evening of April 17, for a three-day official visit, having arrived from Algeria where he spent two days.

The visit comes within the framework of keenness to bring bilateral relations to their normal course, the Tunisian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Tunisian desire

This visit follows a statement by Tunisian President Kais Saied last week, in which he said there is no justification for the absence of a Tunisian ambassador in Damascus, and a Syrian ambassador in Tunis.

Tunisia, President Saied said, would not accept Syria’s partition.

Following a meeting with Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar, President Saied added that a decision had to be made regarding diplomatic representation in Damascus.

“The issue of the regime in Syria concerns only Syrians,” the Tunisian president said.

“We are dealing with the Syrian state and the choices of the Syrian people,” he added.

In response, the foreign ministries of Syria and Tunisia announced in a joint statement on April 12 that Damascus decided to reopen its embassy in Tunisia and appoint an ambassador to head it.

Tunisia’s efforts to restore relations date back to last March, when the Tunisian president expressed a desire to see his country’s representative accompanied by the representative of Syria.

This was the first time President Saied spoke openly and officially about the restoration of relations with Syria.

In early April, the Tunisian president directed his country’s Foreign Ministry to begin procedures for appointing an ambassador to Tunisia in Damascus.

“We need to adhere to the principles of the foreign policy of Tunisian diplomacy,” President Saied wrote on social media.

“Tunisia’s foreign policies derive from the will of the people,” he added.

Why now?

Syria is witnessing a political opening to the countries of the region after a break that began against the backdrop of the Syrian war, in which thousands of people have died since 2011.

With the coming to power in Tunisia of President Saied, known for his Arab nationalist inclinations, he had a tendency towards maintaining a unified Syrian state, and an understanding of the Syrian official point of view.

This poses, however, questions about the reasons for restoring relations at this particular time.

Stain

Tunisian political analyst Nizar Jlidi said Tunisia and Syria re-establish their relations after the devastation that lasted for ten years during the rule of former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki and Ennahda movement, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Tunisia.

“Tunisia was explicitly on the side of extremist currents during the rule of Ennahda and Marzouki,” Jlidi told The Reference.

He referred to a conference in Tunisia about Syria, where Tunisia voiced support to militias in Syria.

“This conference was a disgrace in the history of Tunisia,” Jlidi said.