COVER N.166 - TUNISIA

Postmark: 2090 Mornag 01-09-2022  
Posted on the 1st September; received on the 28th September 2022
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My second cover from Tunisia flew intercontinental from Mornag, a town not far from Tunis or the blue waters of the Mediterranean, located in one of the most fertile region of the country, known for its two main products, both fit for gods: wine and olive oil.

Thank you so much Mejri, for this cover that, in itself, is a mini-collection of Tunisian stamps!

Stamps, left to right, top to bottom:

Forts of Tunisia was the theme chosen by La Poste Tunisienne (Tunisian Post) for a four stamp set (0,75; 0,9; 1; 3 dinar)  issued on 10SEP2021showcasing some of the country's historic military fortifications.  Kélibia Fort, a byzantine  citadel overlooking the Mediterranean,  dating from the XVI century located in the city of Kélibia, illustrates the 0,75 dinar stamp on the cover.

The 0,25 dinar stamp with a photograph of a painted comber (Serranus scriba), a fish of the Serranidae family, common in the eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Black sea, is part of a 4 stamp souvenir sheet (0,25; 075; 0,9; 1 dinar) issued on 012JUN2021, celebrating Tunisia's Marine Biology.

On the 24th November 2015, twelve members of the Tunisian Presidential Guard were killed in Tunis when a suicide bomber blew himself up next to a bus that was transporting the military. The bomber was a 26 year old hawker from Tunis and the action was later claimed by the ISIS.

Honoring the fallen, on 24NOV2018, la poste Tunisienne issued a single 0,5 Dinar stamp with the legend "Hommage aus martyrs de la Sécurité Présidentielle" and an image of a squad in action poses.

Amnesty International. Salazar, the Portuguese dictator, without knowing it, helped found it. It seems that having read about two portuguese students who had been sentenced to jail for toasting freedom in public - such was the absurd nature of the regime - was the trigger to setting up, in 1961, an organisation devoted to the worldwide defense of human rights by Peter Benenson, a lawyer.

Over the years many have been the campaigns that have borne the mark of AI, and as it would be expected given the visibility status that the organisation has achieved over the years - Nobel Prize for peace in 1977 - controversy has also rubbed shoulders with it. 

Irrespective of that, I'm sure that a world without Amnesty International and also other smaller NGOs that daily strive to ensure that those that have no voice can still be heard, would be an even easier run for the sad characters that in so many corners of the ellipsoid contribute to make life harder for so many members of our own species.

The Tunisian Section of Amnesty International was founded in 1988.  To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the organization, La Poste Tunisienne, on 12APR2018 issued the 0,11 dinar stamp on my cover, illustrated  with the numeral 30, drawn up in such a way that the 0 evoques both the world and the map of Tunisia, encompassing the Organisation 's logo.

On 26MAR2002, La Poste Tunisienne issued a four stamp set (250; 350; 600; 600 millim) dedicated to archaeological sites and monuments of Tunisia.

The Amphitheatre of Oudna, a Roman dwelling established near Tunis, is the subject of the stamp on my cover and the place where in much later times (2001) "Murder in Mesopotamia", an episode of the famed Poirot TV series based on Agatha Christie's novels, was filmed.

The postmarks are quite difficult to read but I managed to conlude that the cover had been sent from Mornag.