Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Nabil Ammar, met on Monday with his Syrian counterpart Faysal al-Miqdad, who is on a three-day official visit in Tunis.
This visit, which comes at the invitation of Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar, is the first of a Syrian regime official in Tunisia since the suspension of diplomatic relations between the two countries in February 2012, following a decision taken by former President of the Republic Moncef Marzouki.
The visit is part of the re-establishment of bilateral relations, says a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Tunisia had recently announced the decision of the Syrian regime in power to reopen the Damascus embassy in Tunis and appoint an ambassador.
For his part, President of the Republic Kaïs Saïed had ordered, on April 3, to appoint a Tunisian ambassador in the Syrian capital Damascus, after a break of more than 10 years in relations between the two countries.
In the same context, President Saïed had announced last February the decision to raise the level of the Tunisian diplomatic representation in Damascus, while stressing that the crisis of Bashar al-Assad’s regime is an internal matter that concerns only the Syrian people.
TAP agency presents below the main events that marked the Tunisian-Syrian relations after the January 14, 2011 Revolution:
June 12, 2011: Interim President of the Republic Fouad MebazaS receives at the Palace of Carthage, Syrian ambassador in Tunis, Fayçal Allouni, who came to take leave at the end of his mission in Tunisia.
August 11, 2011: The Tunisian Foreign Ministry calls on the Syrian government and opposition parties as well as civil society components to engage in a national dialogue aimed at meeting the legitimate aspirations of the brotherly Syrian people.
August 17, 2011: Tunisia recalls its ambassador to Damascus for consultation on “serious developments in Syria.”
December 17, 18 and 19, 2011: Tunis hosted the first congress of the Syrian National Council (SNC), which brings together the majority of political currents in Syria opposing al- Assad regime.
More than 200 Syrian opposition figures took part in the congress.
February 4, 2012: Adnène Manser, spokesman for interim President of the Republic Moncef Marzouki, announces that Tunisia is preparing to expel the Syrian ambassador to Tunis.
February 6, 2012: Tunisian diplomats accredited in Syria leave Damascus, at the request of Tunisian authorities.
February 24, 2012: Tunis hosts the first international congress of friends of the Syrian people, which recognises the legitimacy of the Syrian National Council as the legal representative of Syrians.
Representatives from 70 countries attended the congress, including Hilary Clinton, US Secretary of State.
February 28, 2012: Tunisia comes out in favour of granting political asylum to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family members if he agrees to leave power, according to Adnene Mancer.
August 28, 2012: Adnene Mancer calls for the submission of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s case to the International Criminal Court, as well as the cases of those involved in the massacres committed against Syrians.
April 22, 2013: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strengthens the Tunisian diplomatic representation in the Lebanese capital Beirut in order to devote part of the consular services for the benefit of the Tunisian community in Syria.
April 2, 2015: Tunisian Foreign Minister, (at the time of President Beji Caïd Essebssi), Taïeb Baccouche announces: “Relations with Syria will be restored gradually.”
Baccouche stressed that the Syrian side has spoken favourably to the Tunisian request to restore bilateral relations.
July 24, 2015: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proceeds to appoint a Tunisian consul general in Damascus.
September 14, 2015: Secretary of State for Migration and Social Integration, Belgacem Sabri: Some 4,000 Syrian refugees are settled in Tunisia.
September 23, 2015: The social and economic difficulties faced by Syrian refugees in Tunisia were the focus of a meeting between Secretary of State Belgacem Sabri and the president of the Syrian Community Association in Tunisia. This association was created in 2014.
January 31, 2017: The Tunisian parliament decides to form a committee to investigate networks involved in mobilising and sending young Tunisians to hotbeds of tension in Syria and Iraq.
March 2017: Tunisian MPs visit Syria. They submitted, on behalf of their political groups, a draft motion to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries.
These MPs belong to four political parties, namely Machrou Tounes, the Popular Front, Afek Tounes and the Free Patriotic Union.
July 24, 2017: The Parliament rejects, in plenary, the said draft motion.
December 19, 2022: The Judicial Pole for the Fight against Terrorism issues a detention warrant against Ennahdha leader Ali LaSrayedh (PM between March 2013 and January 2014), in the context of the case related to sending young Tunisians to hotbeds of tension.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse