Ministry denies probe launched against Turkish envoy in Cairo

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish Ambassador to Cairo Hüseyin Avni Botsalı. AA photo

A senior Foreign Ministry official categorically denied today that Turkish Ambassador to Cairo Hüseyin Avni Botsalı has come under investigation on allegations he is helping senior Muslim Brotherhood officials remove their money outside Egypt following the July 3 coup.

Egyptian daily Al-Watan reported July 25 that the investigation against Botaslı was launched by Chief Prosecutor Hisham Barakat, who earlier ordered the freezing of assets belonging to Muslim Brotherhood officials.

“This story is incorrect. We categorically deny it,” a senior Turkish Foreign Ministry official told the Hürriyet Daily News. The official also added that the fact that diplomats cannot be prosecuted due to their immunity proved the incorrectness of the fabricated story.

Al-Watan said Barakat launched the probe after Ahmad Yahya, a former Muslim Brotherhood member who split from the movement and is now coordinating the Brotherhood Without Violence movement in Egypt, accused Botsalı of acting as a courier for senior brotherhood members and of transporting their money outside the country by taking advantage of his diplomatic immunity.