Egypt is the 'brain' of the Arab world, says Turkish FM

Ahram Online , Tuesday 3 Jul 2012

Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish FM, praises Egypt's revolution and elections but warns it is merely the beginning of a long process of change

Davutoglu
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu talks to the media during a news conference in Ankara. (Photo: Reuters)

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu praised Egypt's "great revolution" and its free and fair presidential election in an interview with Sky News Arabia on Tuesday.

Egypt's 2011 uprising was "a worldwide trademark of human conscience," Davutoglu said.

The country's relatively peaceful transitional phase, in comparison to Syria and Libya, showed Egypt was the 'Arab brain', he added.

However, electing a president is not the end of the road and is just the beginning of a long process, Davutoglu warned.

In addition, he encouraged President Mohamed Morsi, who is a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, to work with all social and political forces.

Ankara is ready to support the Egyptian nation and government in constructing a consolidated democratic system, Davutoglu said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had visited Cairo last September to meet the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, along with other political and intellectual figures.

In an interview he gave during his visit to prominent TV interviewer Mona Al-Shazli of Dream TV , Erdogan urged the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, to embrace a secular state.

He said the Brotherhood should allow  people the right to choose whether or not to be religious, adding that he is a "Muslim prime minister of a secular state."

At the time, the Muslim Brotherhood leadership criticised Erdogan's statements describing them as "interference in Egypt's local affairs."

Short link: