Turkish officials condemn 'coup' by Tunisian president

Turkish officials on Monday condemned Tunisian President Kais Saied's suspension of parliament and dismissal of Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi as a coup against the country's constitutional order.

"What is happening in Tunisia is worrisome. Decisions prohibiting the elected parliament and MPs from fulfilling their duties is a coup against the constitutional order," Turkey's Speaker of Parliament Mustafa Sentop said on Twitter.

2️⃣ Military/bureaucratic coup is illegitimate in Tunisia like it is everywhere. People of Tunisia will hold on to constitutional order and the law. https://t.co/qBBwOxl51l

— Mustafa Şentop (@MustafaSentop) July 26, 2021

Turkey’s presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin also denounced "the suspension of the democratic process and the ignoring of the democratic will of the people in Tunisia".

Others have condemned Saied's "coup", which came late Sunday after mass protests across Tunisia against the moderate Ennahdha, the country’s largest political party.

Islamist groups in neighbouring Algeria said Saied's decision would "drag the country into chaos", saying it served the "Zionist and colonial project".

The developments have come after a prolonged period of deadlock between the president, prime minister, and legislature, which has crippled management of a coronavirus crisis with a surge in deaths that has put Tunisia among the highest per capita rates in the world.

The country has also been reeling under economic struggles, made worse by the pandemic.