ANKARA
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki warned on Tuesday that there was no returning from the revolution in Tunisia, adding that the success of the Arab Spring as a whole was closely linked to the success of the civil resistance that led to the overthrowing of a dictatorship in his country.
"Tunisia, as you know, is the country that ignited the Arab Spring; a precedent, or you can call it a laboratory," Marzouki said, addressing at a working meal in capital Ankara.
"World powers are now looking at Tunisia, hoping its revolution will succeed. Because, as they point out, if the revolution fails there, it would falter in all other Arab states," Marzouki said.
The president said Tunisia lost too much time under the previous regime, which established itself as a dictatorship for over 30 years.
"If we had been able to take advantage of those years, we'd be talking about a different Tunisia today," Marzouki said.
Democracy, 'a matter of culture'
Tunisia struggles with numerous difficulties and challenges, he said, but "thanks to our will, unity, and energy, the regime that we want will eventually take root and democracy will flourish."
Democracy needs to be supported by other factors, such as a strong economy, Marzouki said, adding, "democracy is a matter of culture. When people are hungry, you can't talk about culture, nor about freedoms."
Marzouki said his country wished to leverage Turkish businessmen's trade experiences. "Your investments in Tunisia will prove successful and bring good returns," he said, adding, "with your investment efforts, you will not only benefit Tunisia, but the whole Arab world."
President of Tunisia Moncef Marzouki said that they would support political solution in Syria.
Marzouki appeared at a joint press conference with President Abdullah Gul and stressed, "We will support political solution in Syria, and the unity of Syrian opposition; moreover, we wish Geneva-2 conference brings a solution."
Marzouki also emphasized that they always supported Syrians, and added, " We always wanted them to get rid of a dictator. We also wanted Syrian revolution to be a civil and democratic revolution, but I am regrettably saying that the Syrian issue returned to another thing."
Marzouki pointed out that Turkey was playing an important role to limit the bloodshed in Syria.
"We consider that we will not be able to obtain a result with war; for this reason, we want a civil government to be established in Syria, with which Syrians live together in peace," said Marzouki
"Tunisian youth go to Syria to fight"
Marzouki said that Syrian issue returned to an internal matter for Tunisia, and stated, "Some of our misled youth go to Syria to fight. They are trained there. Our youth are getting involved in a war, of which we disapprove."
Marzouki pointed out that the misled youth could be a problem when they come back to Tunisia.
Mazouki also said that he has mentioned the issue of misled Tunisian youth to President Gul.
"Gul said that Turkey would give some thought to this issue, and would help Tunisia," said Marzouki.
"We want to take advantage of Turkey's experience"
Mazouki underlined that they want to take advantage of Turkey's experience to achieve their targets.
"We believe that our Turkish brothers will not deny sharing their experience and specialization, also making investment on Tunisia, and giving political back up to us," said Mazouki.
Marzouki also reminded that they would welcome Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to further strengthen the relations among Tunisia and Turkey.
President Marzouki visited Ataturk's mausoleum, Anitkabir, before meeting with President Gul.
