Six Tunisians have been sentenced to four months in prison after mistakenly raising the Turkish flag instead of the national flag over a government building, according to reports from Tunisian media on Friday.
Footage that circulated online earlier this month showed the Turkish flag flying over the Tunis headquarters of the national railway company, SNCFT.
The flags of Turkiye and Tunisia share similar colours and feature Islamic symbols, including a star and crescent, with the main distinction being the presence of a white circle on the Tunisian flag.
The SNCFT issued an apology for the incident, explaining that the Turkish flag was inadvertently purchased and that staff did not realise the error until the flag was already raised.
This is not the first flag-related incident in Tunisia. In May, three sports officials were arrested after the national flag was covered at a sporting event due to sanctions from the World Anti-Doping Agency.
They faced charges of “attacking the flag of Tunisia” and “plotting against the internal security” of the state, but were released last week after serving a three-month sentence.
The recent flag incident has drawn the ire of Tunisian President Kais Saied, who is preparing for the upcoming election on October 6, where he is expected to secure a victory.