Rajab Tayyip Erdogan (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt has refused to allow Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to enter Gaza through the Egyptian border, reports Watan, a Turkish-based newspaper.
The denial came reportedly as a reaction by the Egyptian side to Erdogan's continuous criticism of the interim government installed after the military deposed Brotherhood-fielded president Morsi amid massive protests for his ouster.
Erdogan was set to travel to Gaza later in August to pressure Israeli authorities to end the naval blockade on the Hamas-controlled territory.
Considering Egypt's refusal to allow him to pass from Egypt to Gaza, the Turkish prime minister's other choice is to enter through Israel – a country Turkey has faced-off with diplomatically in the last few years.
Egypt has informed Ankara authorities that their prime minister will not be welcomed by Egyptians because of his support of Morsi and that the Turkish government has not officially acknowledged the new interim government in Egypt, Watan said.
Erdogan, whose Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) maintains close relationship with Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, refuses to recognise the post-Morsi government insisting that the ouster of the Islamist leader on 3 July amounted to a 'coup' against a president elected by the people.
Egypt's ministry of foreign affairs summoned Turkey's ambassador to Cairo twice in July over what it described as Turkish interference in internal Egyptian affairs.
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