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Turkish officials condemn Tunisian 'coup' but keep it measured

While AKP officials have denounced the Tunisian president's sacking of the prime minister and suspension of parliament as a "coup," Ankara’s language was markedly less incendiary than when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi overthrew the country’s popularly elected president in 2013.
In a photo taken from the TV station of President Kais Saied, the president announces the dissolution of parliament and Prime Minister Mechichi's government on July 25, 2021.

Turkish officials have condemned Tunisia’s president over his stunning power grab — sacking the prime minister, suspending the parliament and the immunity of all lawmakers, and appointing himself prosecutor-general late Sunday — with members of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) calling the moves a “coup.”

Kais Saied, a former constitutional law professor and a political novice who was elected in a landslide in 2019 amid mounting frustration over rising poverty, joblessness and massive corruption, acted following a wave of anti-government demonstrations over mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic. He is believed to have the backing of Tunisia’s armed forces. Under Tunisia’s post-revolutionary constitution adopted in 2014, the president is their commander in chief.

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