Tunisian Foreign Minister: Libyan crisis has significant repercussions on Tunisia

The Tunisian Foreign Minister, Manji Hamidi, has said that the on-going crisis in Libya has huge repercussions for his country, including economic, political and security consequences, Anadolu news agency reported on Monday.

Hamidi reportedly explained, at a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Molood Jawish Oglu in the Turkish capital Ankara, that his country will host 1.8 million Libyan citizens, which has big implications for the Tunisian economy.

He called on “all the factions in Libya to sit down together at the dialogue table in order to reach a peaceful solution through a comprehensive national reconciliation in favour of the national interest of Libya over anything else,” adding that, “the only solution to this crisis is to end the chaos, violence and military actions through national dialogue.”

According to Anadolu, Hamidi said that the Tunisian government is working to help Libyans residing in his country and it is doing its best to find a solution to the Libyan crisis, stressing that “the prosperity of Tunisia can not happen without the stability of Libya.”

He pointed out that “the terrorist operations, which are trying to harm the stability of Tunisia, are caused by the problems in Libya,” adding that the fight against terrorist operations has to become a common denominator for all countries.

On bilateral relations between Tunisia and Turkey, Hamidi expressed his gratitude to Turkey, particularly for supporting his country during the transitional phase.

He stated that his government is doing its utmost in order to further develop its strategic relations with Turkey, pointing to Tunisia’s desire to prepare a plan of action for increasing the trade volume between the two countries.

For his part, Oglu stressed that a “common will” exists between the two countries to develop their mutual cooperation in all fields, pointing out that the two sides had agreed to hold the meeting of the strategic high-level cooperation council in Turkey.

Oglu also conveyed that his meeting with his Tunisian counterpart included a discussion about regional and international issues, saying: “We had the opportunity, in this framework, to address the situation in Libya, which threatens the security of Tunisia, and the fight against terrorism and organised crime, as well as the situation in Syria and the Iraqi crisis, and last but not least: the fair issue of the Palestinian people, and the situation in Gaza.”