4 arrested after Turkish flag mistakenly hoisted at Tunisian gov’t building

TUNIS

Four Tunisians have been arrested after Türkiye’s flag, which closely resembles but is not identical to Tunisia's, was mistakenly raised on a government building, local media reported on Sept. 11.

Footage circulated online in recent days showed the Turkish flag flying over the Tunis headquarters of the national railway company SNCFT, prompting a formal apology and arrests.

The two flags have the same red and white colors and both bear symbols of a star and crescent, with the most noticeable difference being a white circle on the Tunisian one.

SNCFT announced it had removed the wrong flag, apologizing in a statement for the mix-up and saying an investigation had been launched.

It said the Turkish flag had been purchased by mistake and that staff "didn't notice until it was raised.”

The blunder did not go unnoticed on social media, and on Sept. 11, Mosaique FM radio and other Tunisian news outlets said four railway workers had been arrested.

The media reports did not elaborate on the identities of those arrested or the charges they may face.

In May, the covering of the national flag at a sporting event in Tunis due to sanctions from the World Anti-Doping Agency led to the arrests of three officials.

The sports officials faced charges including "attack on the flag of Tunisia" and "plot against the internal security" of the state and were released last week after a three-month sentence.