Erdogan refuses to meet ElBaradei

Strained diplomatic relations between Ankara and Cairo grew even tenser on Thursday when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan rejected newly sworn in Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei’s request for a meeting, the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Erdogan made comments on July 14 slamming the military takeover from President Mohamed Morsi on July 3, following days of mass protests calling for the Brotherhood president’s removal.

“The ballot box exists to prevent the minority imposing on the majority. They say that Hitler came out of the ballot box. So what, should we remove the ballot box because Hitler can come out of it?” Hurriyet Daily News quoted Erdogan as saying during an iftar dinner organized by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party on July 17.

“Questioning the ballot box by saying that Hitler can be elected is nothing more than ill-will against democracy,” he continued.

“Currently, my president in Egypt is Morsi because he was elected by the people,” Erdogan was also quoted as saying by Agence France Press on July 14.

Erdogan said that he rejected ElBaradei’s request for a meeting in a letter, in which he explained that he had no interest in meeting state officials who came to power without elections. “You had 1.5 percent of the votes in the elections, Morsi had 52 percent," he wrote.

The Muslim Brotherhood had held up Turkish modern politics as a model, as the AKP has proven an ability to balance power with an influential military institution.