Egypt summons Turkish Ambassador over Erdogan’s anti-Sisi remark

Turkey’s PM Erdoğan accused Cairo of lacking a ‘sincere approach’ to the Palestinian issue, and Erdoğan last month called Egypt’s President Sisi an “illegitimate tyrant.”

By REUTERS

 

CAIRO – Egypt will summon the Turkish charge d’affaires in protest at comments by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who accused Egypt of lacking a sincere approach to the Palestinian issue, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Erdogan.

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – Photo: AFP

Erdoğan made the comments in a recent interview with broadcaster CNN. The most senior Turkish diplomat in Egypt was already summoned earlier this month after Erdoğan called Egypt’s President an “illegitimate tyrant”.

Relations between Egypt and Turkey have soured since the Egyptian army last year ousted the governing Muslim Brotherhood, which Erdoğan supports.

Erdoğan has also angered Israel of late.

Last week, Erdoğan made comments about Israel’s actions in its operation against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip that caused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to complain to US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Netanyahu told Kerry that the words of the leader of Washington’s close NATO ally were anti-Semitic and that they profaned the memory of the Holocaust.

Erdoğan, in the midst of a presidential campaign, said on Saturday that “Those who condemn Hitler day and night have surpassed Hitler in barbarism.”

Herb Keinon contributed to this report.

 

View original Jerusalem Post publication at: http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Egypt-Turkey-relations-Egypt-to-summon-Turkish-envoy-over-Erdogans-Palestinian-remarks-368979