Tunisian Parliament Questions Ghannouchi on Meeting with Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi (L) in Istanbul, Turkey on January 11, 2020. (Turkish Presidency / Murat Cetinmuhurdar / Handout - Anadolu Agency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi (L) in Istanbul, Turkey on January 11, 2020. (Turkish Presidency / Murat Cetinmuhurdar / Handout - Anadolu Agency)
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Tunisian Parliament Questions Ghannouchi on Meeting with Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi (L) in Istanbul, Turkey on January 11, 2020. (Turkish Presidency / Murat Cetinmuhurdar / Handout - Anadolu Agency)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi (L) in Istanbul, Turkey on January 11, 2020. (Turkish Presidency / Murat Cetinmuhurdar / Handout - Anadolu Agency)

The Tunisian parliament’s absolute majority on Wednesday highly criticized Speaker Rached Ghannouchi over his surprise visit to Turkey last week.

During his visit on Saturday, he held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Some political parties and lawmakers voiced their rejection to the meeting, which came amid a debate in Tunisia, Libya, and other countries on the Turkish role in Libya and Ankara’s decision to send forces in support of Tripoli’s Government of National Accord led by Fayez al-Sarraj.

A total of 122 deputies voted in favor of grilling Ghannouchi, while only 20 objected.

Although he stressed that the parliament didn't cover the costs of his short visit to Turkey which he depicted as “personal and pre-scheduled” out of his position as the head of Tunisia's Ennahda movement, lawmakers called for his resignation as long as he is “holding onto” his party leadership.

But Ennahda officials snapped back, saying Mustapha Ben Jafar was speaker from 2011 to 2014 and at the same time head of the Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties (FDTL).

Some political parties and blocs took advantage of the criticism against Ghannouchi’s visit to exert pressure on Ennahda and limit its prospect of choosing a new candidate for the premiership.

Former Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui also slammed what he called the “parallel diplomacy” and visits carried out by Ghannouchi and figures from his circle to several capitals.

These meetings included the leaders of Algeria, Turkey, Malaysia, and Qatar.



Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, Medics Say

A body arrives at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah town, central Gaza Strip, 31 October 2024. (EPA)
A body arrives at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah town, central Gaza Strip, 31 October 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 30 Palestinians in Gaza, Medics Say

A body arrives at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah town, central Gaza Strip, 31 October 2024. (EPA)
A body arrives at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah town, central Gaza Strip, 31 October 2024. (EPA)

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 30 Palestinians since Monday night, Palestinian media and medics said on Tuesday, as the Israeli army tightened its siege on northern areas of the enclave.

An airstrike damaged two houses in the town of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, where the army has carried out new operations since Oct. 5, and killed at least 20 people late on Monday, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA and Hamas media said.

The Gaza health ministry did not immediately confirm the toll. Four other people were killed in the central Gazan town of Al-Zawayda around midnight on Monday, medics said.

Palestinian health officials said six people had also been killed in two separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City and Deir Al-Balah in the central area of the narrow enclave.

The Israeli military said, without giving details, that its forces had "eliminated terrorists" in the central Gaza Strip and Jabalia area. Israeli troops had also located weapons and explosives over the past day in the southern Rafah area, where "terrorist infrastructure sites" had been eliminated, it said.

Palestinians said the new attacks and Israeli orders for people to evacuate were aimed at emptying two northern Gaza towns and a refugee camp to create buffer zones.

Israel says its forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian gunmen and dismantled military infrastructure in Jabalia in the past month.

More than 43,300 Palestinians have been killed in more than a year of war in Gaza, the authorities in Gaza say, and much of the territory has been reduced to ruins.

The war began after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.