Egypt slams official Turkish comments

Egypt’s presidential media advisor Ahmed al-Moslemany said that Egypt rejects official Turkish statements, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported Tuesday. 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that deposed President Mohamed Morsi is the only legitimate president. “Currently, my president in Egypt is Morsi because he was elected by the people,” Erdogan was quoted as saying by Agence France Press on Sunday, referring to an interview he had given to the pro-government Today’s Zaman.

Meslemany said that Egypt does not allow any intervention in its sovereign affairs, reminding Turkey that Egypt did not once intervene in the anti-government protests that emanated from Taksim Square since last month.

Morsi was ousted by the Armed Forces on July 3 after popular protests called for his departure. The Muslim Brotherhood, alongside allies abroad, slammed the move as an illegitimate power grab by the generals.

Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, told private Turkish broadcaster NTV on Monday that across the Arab world elements from old regimes represent setbacks to revolutionary movements. “There are some elements that have remained from the old system in Yemen, Tunisia and Libya. Our foremost mission is to eliminate the possibility of a reverse domino effect over external legitimacy. If we all allow something wrong in Egypt, there will be a reverse domino effect,” Turkish Hurriyet News quoted him as saying.

Davutoglu criticized the European Union for its stance on Morsi’s ouster and called for more international rejection of the military coup.

Similarly, Badr Abdel Aty, Foreign Ministry spokesperson, expressed Egypt's rejection of Turkish statements on Egypt and called on Turkish officials to safeguard the historic relations between the two countries and to step beyond the narrow interests of political parties, the state-run portal Egy News reported Tuesday.

Officials from the Muslim Brotherhood have often praised the Turkish democratic experience for the way in which it showed the ability of an Islamist party to lead the country despite a powerful military institution and presence in politics.