Turkey's envoy to Cairo returns home amid spat
ISTANBUL - Agence France-Presse
Turkish envoy to Egypt, Hüseyin Avni Botsalı, left Cairo Nov 27. AA photo
Turkey's ambassador to Cairo has returned home after being expelled in a diplomatic spat over Ankara's support for Egypt's ousted Islamist president, the foreign ministry said Nov. 28.The row erupted at the weekend after Turkish Prime Minister Prime Recep Tayyip Erdoğan again criticized the military "coup" in Egypt that ousted president Mohamed Morsi in July.
Egypt expelled the Turkish ambassador, prompting Ankara to declare the Egyptian envoy "persona non grata" and downgrading diplomatic relations.
The Turkish envoy Hüseyin Avni Botsalı landed in Istanbul late Wednesday and left the airport without making any comments, the foreign ministry said.
Turkish President Abdullah Gül has voiced hope that relations would be put on a better footing soon, saying after Egypt's decision on Saturday that the situation was "temporary."
But Erdoğan remains unapologetic.
"We will not stop saying what is right and standing by the Egyptian people just because the coup-installed government in Egypt is disturbed," he said on Tuesday.
Erdoğan's government had forged an alliance with Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood after the Islamist leader won Egypt's first free presidential election in June last year.
