Tunisian politicians call for submitting letter of protest to Turkey

CAIRO - 23 August 2017: A state of anger prevailed among a wide number of Tunisian politicians and citizens toward Turkey, as Egyptian Islamist Wagdy Ghonem published a video, where he called Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi and members of The Assembly of the Representatives of the People disbelievers.

General Secretary of “Machrou’ Tounes” Mohsen Marzouk called for submitting an official letter of protest to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ghonem’s recent statement contradicts norms, incites violence and is not acceptable, Marzouk said.

A number of Tunisian Islamic figures condemned Ghonem’s statement as well and expressed concern that the Islamic State (IS) group may make use of it to carry out terrorist attacks in Tunisia.

Ghonem, a former Muslim Brotherhood member, was met in Tunisia by chants of “dégage” (get out) from a number of protestors in Al-Mahdia in February 2012. The Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Ghonem in April 2017 to death in absentia on charges of establishing and heading a terrorist cell.

On National Women’s Day, the Tunisian president announced the formation of a committee to study the issue of individual rights, to enact them further and to consider equality between men and women across all fields, including inheritance and giving the right to Tunisian Muslim women to get married to non-Muslim men. The president’s calls were supported by the senior Islamic establishment in the country’s Dar el Iftaa'.