Category: National

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday signed agreements in Tunis on defence, investment and the environment. The Turkish president and his Tunisian counterpart expressed their determination to boost economic cooperation. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Wednesday said Turkey is committed to increasing Tunisian imports and trade exchanges that amount to over $1.5 billion, between both countries. “This pledge is strengthened by Turkey’s readiness to help Tunisia overcome the trade deficit,” he said at a joint press conference with President Beji Caid Essebsi held on Wednesday at the Carthage Palace. The…

The University of Tunis El Manar (UTM) ranks first among Tunisian universities, 9th at the African level and 703rd at the global level in the 2017-2018 World Ranking report published recently by the University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP). The University of Tunis El Manar went up 327 places at the global level and 7 places at the African level in only one year. In fact, the university did rank higher than the universities of Lubeck University (Germany), of Wroclaw (Poland), of Angers, Paris 13, Creteil, Paris Dauphine and Poitiers…

A recent study by the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies (part of the Presidency of the Republic) has predicted that the country will lose 50 per cent of its agricultural lands by 2050, Anadolu reports. The study, released Thursday, shows that 10% of Tunisians are threatened by food insecurity in the upcoming years and 96 per cent of the country’s area is directly and indirectly threatened by desertification. In a press statement, Neji Jalloul, head of the Institute, attributed the most important problems the agriculture is facing to the import of seeds…

Education Minister Hatem Ben Salem said that the education sector is the most affected as it is raising true existential questions. This sector has brought hope for all the Tunisian people by providing the true social ladder allowing them to have an important place in society thanks to the public system. However, this system today is stalling because there is an accumulation of problems that must urgently be solved. This accumulation is due to overcrowding and Tunisia is not prepared since the sixties for this phenomenon which resulted into massification and negative…

Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Ahmed Abou Zaid posted on Twitter the final statement of the tripartite meeting, which took place in Tunisia on Saturday and Sunday. Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, took part in the fourth coordinating meeting of the Egyptian, Tunisian and Algerian foreign ministers within the framework of the initiative launched by Tunisia’s Beji Caid Essebsi for a compressive settlement in Libya. The foreign ministers of Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria convened in Tunisia on Saturday to resume discussions over the security and political developments of Libya, which has…

Demonstrators in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid on Sunday marked seven years since a street vendor set himself on fire in a move that touched off the Arab Spring uprisings. Stallholder Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight on December 17, 2010 in a deadly protest over unemployment and police harassment that spiralled into the overthrow of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Tensions were running high as unemployed protesters and activists marched through the streets angry over the lack of jobs and opportunities that continue to plague Sidi Bouzid. Some…

The “democratization of corruption” is putting Tunisia’s transition at risk, affecting every level of the country’s economic, political, and security systems.  Since the 2010-2011 revolution that ousted Tunisian President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, the European Union has shown a clear commitment to supporting the consolidation of country’s democratic transition. The EU has provided Tunisia with approximately €3.5 billion in a combination of grants and loans since 2011. After establishing a “Privileged Partnership” between the EU and Tunisia in 2012, the EU has strengthened relationships with the Tunisian government and civil…