Tunisia, Turkey sign four cooperation agreements

TUNIS, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia and Turkey signed Wednesday four cooperation agreements concerning security, economic and environmental issues during Turkish president's visit to the north African country.

In terms of security, the convention stipulates military cooperation between the two countries in addition to training courses of Tunisian military competencies.

"Our two countries will make concerted efforts to boost bilateral cooperation, particularly in tourism and trade," said Erdogan at a joint press conference with his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi.

Excluding a 300 million dollars grant already pledged to Tunisia, the Turkish President has announced his intention to grant 300 million dollars in additional funding.

Referring to certain regional and international issues of common interest such as the Libyan conflict and the Syrian crisis, the Turkish President said his country's position and that of Tunisia "are similar."

With regard to the Libyan affair, Erdogan confirmed the upcoming opening of an embassy in Tripoli.

This is Recep Tayyip Erdogan's third visit to Tunisia and the first as president, following the visits in 2011 and 2013 as prime minister.

Since 2011, Turkish funding in Tunisia has reached 500 million dollars, including 200 million dollars in security.

Throughout the year 2016, the volume of trade between Tunisia and Turkey was one billion dollars, including 240 million dollars for Tunisian exports and 760 million dollars for Turkish exports. Enditem