Turkish PM holds 3-hour Egypt meeting attended by FM, intelligence chief

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addresses members of parliament from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara on July 2, 2013 AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held an extraordinary meeting at his Istanbul office to assess the latest developments in the Egyptian crisis at 4 p.m. today. No official statement was delivered after the meeting, which lasted about three hours.

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç; Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu; Culture and Tourism Minister Ömer Çelik; the deputy chairman and spokesperson of the ruling Justice and Ruling Party (AKP), Huseyin Çelik; and AKP lawmaker Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu participated in the meeting. The head of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Hakan Fidan and Erdoğan's chief adviser, Yalçın Akdoğan, also attended the meeting, according to Doğan news agency.

Erdoğan called the meeting, cutting short his holiday in the Aegean town of Urla.