Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ahmed Abou Zaid said Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insulted the Egyptian leadership while speaking to Al Jazeera.
“Once more, the Turkish president insulted the Egyptian leadership, which shows poor assessment on behalf of president Erdoğan, who is in a confusing situation, given the tough circumstances he is facing,” Abou Zaid commented in a Thursday statement.
According to Abou Zaid, the Turkish president failed to differentiate between the recent military coup against him, and what happened in Egypt on 30 June 2013, “which was a complete revolution in which more than 30 million Egyptians took the streets demanding the support of the army”.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera aired on Wednesday, Erdoğan referred to the Egyptian president as a “military coup man”, much like those who attempted the coup in Turkey. “He overthrew the president elected by the people with the use of weapons while he was still the Minister of Defence,” Erdogan stated.
“Can we respect this act? This is in addition to him killing thousands of people. This man has nothing to do with democracy,” he continued.
Egypt and Turkey have had tense ties since the military-backed ouster of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, which brought President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to power. Morsi was considered an important ally to Erdoğan. Since his ouster, both countries have exchanged accusations and cut diplomatic ties.
Ever since the attempted military coup in Turkey, the Egyptian government and media rejoiced, launching a campaign criticising the policies of Erdoğan. The popularity of the Egyptian army was highlighted, as well as its strong ties with Egypt’s citizens, while Turkey’s demonstrations against its military and the coup leaders were emphasised.
Despite the failure of Turkey’s coup attempt, headlines of the Egyptian press the next morning asserted that the coup had succeeded and that Erdoğan was ousted. Moreover, Egyptian talk show hosts criticised Turkey’s crackdown on democracy and freedoms.
On Sunday, Egypt has debunked reported claims that it hindered a United Nations Security Council report that condemned the coup attempt in Turkey, claiming that Egypt had only suggested an amendment to the report.
