Foreign Ministry slams Erdogan’s anti-Sisi remarks

Egypt's Foreign Ministry described President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's behavior as “lacking proper judgement” in a statement early Thursday, after the Turkish leader criticized Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

In a recent interview with Al Jazeera English, Erdogan slammed Egyptian media’s premature declaration that a coup attempt against Erdogan had succeeded. “Sisi is a coup plotter, just like the people we have here in Turkey now. Sisi used weapons and arms to topple Morsi, who was democratically elected. How can this behavior be respected? Thousands of people have been killed, how can this be respected? He has nothing to do with democracy,” Erdogan said.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry slammed Erdogan’s “renewed attack against the Egyptian leadership,” attributing his behavior to “the difficult situation he is undergoing.”

“One of the issues that remains unclear for the Turkish president is the ability to distinguish between a people’s revolution where 30 million Egyptians demanded the support of its Armed Forces, and typical military coups,” the statement added.

Erdogan was vocal in his rejection of the removal of President Mohamed Morsi from power in 2013 and has been fiercely criticized in Egyptian media as a close ally of the Muslim Brotherhood. His stance on the Egyptian administration has resulted in a diplomatic rift between the two countries.

Egypt objected to a statement by the Security Council denouncing the failed military coup against Erdogan’s administration earlier this week, especially to a clause in the statement that urged “all parties to respect the democratically elected government in Turkey." In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said it suggested replacing the sentence with a call to “respect democratic and constitutional principles and the rule of law” instead, which was viewed as an attempt by Egypt to prevent the statement from being issued.