Erdogan signs defence deal in Tunisia

TUNIS: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday signed agreements in Tunis on defence, investment and the environment as he and his Tunisian counterpart expressed their determination to strengthen economic cooperation.

“We affirmed the desire of the two states to strengthen cooperation... taking into account the circumstances affecting Tunisia,” the North African country’s President Beji Caid Essebsi said. The Tunisian leader went on to praise “the understanding shown by the Turkish president regarding these circumstances”. Turkey and Tunisia have deep political and commercial ties, but their free trade agreement has been the subject of fierce discussion during debate on financial legislation. Tunisia’s trade imbalance has increased considerably, reaching 1.6 billion dinars ($649 million, 565 million euros) in the first 10 months of 2017, and the country has reinstated customs duties on certain products imported from Turkey. “Turkey supports Tunisia in difficult times,” said Erdogan. “The development of Tunisia is the development of Turkey.”

Erdogan said he hoped to “reinforce our economic ties, particularly in commerce and investments, and develop cooperation in the energy, tourism and agriculture sectors”.