Turkey slams Egyptian spokesperson’s remarks about Erdoğan

ANKARA

Turkey on Sept. 25 rejected a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson targeting the country and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“We reject the statement made by the spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of Egypt on Sept. 24, 2019, which is full of lies and slander targeting our country and president,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement.

“It is tragicomic that those who rose to power with a coup is criticizing democracy in Turkey,” Aksoy’s statement added.

Turkey is a responsible member of the international community and has been calling for the “Egyptian people’s legitimate demands, on democracy, justice, equality, freedom, accountability and wealth, to be met,” the statement read.

Turkey also calls for the end of “human rights violations that have been prevalently and systematically continuing in Egypt,” it added.

“The unconscionable practices in Egyptian prisons and prosecution processes carried out with political decisions are well known by the international community. These practices have been subjected to criticisms of various international organizations,” the statement conveyed.

Egypt is adopting a hostile attitude, rather than positively listening to the well-intentioned calls and suggestions, Aksoy said in the statement. He added that the Egyptian administration is doing this “to cover up the human rights violations and overlook the fundamental demands of Egyptian people.”

According to the statement, Egypt’s effort to target Turkey, which has a leading role and experience in the fight against terrorism, is a reflection of its aggressive attitude.

“Turkey has been fighting against terrorist groups such as the outlawed PKK/YPG, Al-Qaeda, ISIL and FETÖ,” the statement read.

“This fight of Turkey against terrorism, that poses a cross-border threat, has been contributing to peace and security of the region and the territorial integrity of neighboring countries, especially Syria,” it added.

It is no surprise that “those acceded with coup is supporting putschists,” the statement underlined.

The ministry said Turkey would continue its principled attitude towards peace and prosperity of the brotherly people of Egypt and would continue expressing its views on the return to democracy and establishment of rights and freedoms in the country.

President Erdoğan, during his speech at the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly, said that Egypt’s firstly elected president Mohamed Morsi’s death was a symbol of the need for justice and truth in the region.

“Egypt’s elected president Morsi’s devastating death and the fact that his family was not allowed at his burial, is a bleeding wound for us,” Erdoğan had said.

“It became a symbol for the deep need of justice and truth in the region,” he added.