Davutoğlu lauds Tunisian polls, vows continued support

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu congratulated Tunisian Nidaa Tounes party leader Baji Caid el-Sebsi on his general election victory on Thursday.

The Nidaa Tounes party won the highest number of seats in the North African country's recent parliamentary vote.

On October 26, Nidaa Tounes, which is comprised of former officials of the Zine el-Abidine ben Ali regime, obtained the most seats by a single party in the first post-ben Ali democratic parliamentary elections.

"As Turkey, we have always provided all kinds of support to Tunisia and so we shall continue to do so," Davutoğlu said in a telephone call to el-Sebsi on Thursday afternoon.

According to the Prime Ministry, el-Sebsi described Turkey as a key friend of Tunisia, saying "it is significant for us to see it persist."

Davutoğlu also called Rashid al-Ghannushi, leader of the Ennahda Movement, which came second in the parliamentary polls, to reiterate Turkey's lasting support for Tunisia.

"It is Tunisia who won after a democratic election process," Ghannushi said in return.

Nidaa Tounes, which includes a number of ben Ali-era politicians, won 84 seats in the assembly, while the Islamist Ennahda Movement won 69, according to an Anadolu Agency tally.

Nidaa Tounes chairman el-Sebsi, who served as parliament speaker under the ousted ben Ali regime, is also contesting the upcoming presidential polls, scheduled for November 23.