Algeria congratulates Tunisia on 7th anniversary of 2011 popular uprising

ALGIERS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Sunday congratulated his Tunisian counterpart Beji Caid Essebsi on the seventh anniversary of the popular uprising of Jan. 14, 2011.

"I am particularly happy to see the Tunisian people celebrating the seventh anniversary of the Jan. 14 uprising, and I would like to seize this opportunity to reiterate my determination to strengthen the friendship and solidarity between the two fraternal peoples," wrote Bouteflika to Essebsi.

The Algerian president also vowed to promote relations between the two countries to reach the strategic partnership to serve the benefit of people in the region.

Tunisia, the economy of which is dependent on tourism, had been ruled for 23 years by former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted in January 2011 after massive and peaceful popular protests. Since then, the country has been struggling in an economic crisis.

Tunisia is one of the most favored tourist destinations for Algerians, as 1.5-2 million Algerian tourists visit this neighboring country every year, according to official figures.

Tunisia and Algeria have maintained good bilateral relations after the Jan. 11 uprising, while security cooperation has always been at the center of the bilateral ties, amid increasing terrorist threat on their shared borderline.

To effectively respond to the upsurge of terrorist acts throughout the Maghreb and Sahel region, the two countries have strengthened their intelligence and military operations to deal with trans-threat.

In fact, the armies of both countries have conducted several joint operations against terrorist groups that are active along the borderline. Enditem