Rulling AKP MP warns Ankara over Egypt’s dynamics

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Pakistani activists from the Islamic political party Jamaat-e-Islami gather in support of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi at a rally in Lahore. AFP photo

A ruling party deputy, who had previously attracted public attention by drafting a report criticizing the government’s attitude during the Gezi Park unrest, has warned that Turkey should be careful in order not to “lose Egypt,” although he justified Turkey’s support for toppled President Mohamed Morsi.

The warning by ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Kütahya deputy İdris Bal, came in a report on Egypt, in which he stated that Ankara should try to "understand the dynamics" of the North African country so that it would not be added to the list of countries with which Turkey has problems, daily Bugün newspaper reported yesterday. 

According to Bal, expecting the Egyptian army to take a backward step and expecting the reinstating of Morsi was "not realistic." However, Bal also said it was normal for Turkey to support Morsi as an elected president and to criticize coup-makers.

‘We should be careful’

“If we cannot understand Egypt, cannot read the internal and external dynamics and balances and keep our strong criticisms, we could lose Egypt and we may have to pay for the economic, political and security related costs of this [loss]. We shouldn’t add Egypt to the countries we are having problems with and we should be careful,” he was quoted as saying in the report. 

Pointing out the presence of an experience and accumulation deficiency in Egypt, which had been under “one-man rule” for many years, Bal also maintained that Morsi and his supporters had made some deficiencies and mistakes in terms of the democratic tradition. 

After the election process in June 2012, Morsi should have adopted a softer, more conciliatory and less provocative tone, both in the issuing process of a new Constitution and in his relations with the opposition, the reports states. A draft Constitution was approved at a meeting of Egypt's Constitution amendment committee in November 2012, when the opposition was not present, and in the following two weeks a referendum, boycotted by the opposition, was held. Eventually, the draft Constitution passed with 64 percent approval from a turnout of 32 percent of eligible voters, Bal said.

“However, of course, it is a fact that no mistake of an elected one legitimizes an overthrow outside the boundaries of the democratic tradition,” he stated. 

Earlier this month, a report titled “Taksim Incidents Analysis,” drafted by the Eurasia Global Research Center (AGAM) that was chaired by Bal, raised eyebrows, as it suggested that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was misinformed during the Gezi Park protests and the redevelopment project was not handled in a democratic way.