TUNISIA, (ST)- Tunisia’s Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui has stressed that the Tunisian-Syrian ties have never been cut because the Tunisian diplomatic mission in Damascus maintains direct and daily contacts with the Syrian authorities.
In an interview with the Tunisian “La Presse” on Sunday, Jhinaoui said that “diplomatic relations with Syria are not at the ambassador levels, but they are at the consul level and they have never been cut though former Tunisian President al-Mounsef al-Marzouqi had announced that diplomatic relations with Syria were severed in 2012 but without taking official procedures for activating this decision in accordance with Vienna Accord which provides for the need to inform the United Nations about such a decision.”
The Tunisian top diplomat added that “Tunisia has welcomed the agreements reached in Astana process on Syria and it closely follows up the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva and supports peaceful settlement of the crisis through dialogue among the Syrians who alone have the right to decide the future of their country.”
Jhinaoui pointed out that Syria’s stability is very important to the stability of the entire Arab world.
Delegations representing several Tunisian parties and forces have visited Syria to voice solidarity with the Syrian people and state in the face of terrorism and they continuously ask the Tunisian government to restore full diplomatic ties with Syria.
Hamda Mustafa