Egypt denounces Turkey's statements on developments in Egypt following Morsi's 2013 ouster
Ahram Online, , Saturday 19 Sep 2020
Egypt has had strained relations with Turkey since the 2013 ouster of Morsi, who was a close ally of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s government


Egypt denounced on Saturday statements by Turkey regarding the country’s political developments in connection with the 30 June revolution, describing the Turkish comments as “preposterous claims.”

In an official statement, Egypt’s foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez slammed a TV interview that aired on Wednesday on CNN Turk with Turkish Foreign MinisterMevlut Cavusoglu, who addressed in a negative manner the developments in Cairo following the ouster of late Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Hafez said the statements by Cavusoglu showed a continued adherence to “preposterous claims to serve ideological purposes.”

The Egyptian ministry spokesman affirmed Egypt’s full rejection of Turkey’s approach, noting that discussions about Egypt in“such a negative tone, and at the same time with such contradiction, casts doubt on claims that there is a willingness to create an atmosphere for good relations based on respect and commitment to the rule of international legitimacy.”

Egypt has had strained relations with Turkey since the 2013 ouster of Morsi, who was a close ally of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s government.

Tensions between the two countries escalated in the past months over Ankara's military intervention in war-torn Libya,its violation of Iraq's sovereignty, as well as Ankara's hunt for gas in the Eastern Mediterraneanin violation of the territorial waters of Greece and Cyprus, two close allies of Egypt.

Conflict further heightened after Egypt and Greece signed a maritime demarcation deal in August establishing an exclusive economic zone between the two countries, sparking an angry response from Turkey.

Ankara said at the time that Turkey considers the agreement to be null and void, and that the area falls within the borders of Turkey's continental shelf.

The Egyptian ministry’s statement comes days after the Turkish foreign minister criticised during the interview with the Turkish broadcaster the situation in Egypt following the ousting of Morsi and the dispersal of the pro-Islamist protests camps of Rabaa and Nahda in 2013.

Cavusoglu hinted that his country offered to sign a maritime jurisdiction agreement with Egypt, similar to a controversial agreement it made with Libya.

Despite earlier statements slamming the Egypt-Greece agreement, the Turkish foreign minister said that Egypt did not violate Turkey’s continental shelf through the agreement.

“Let's not be unfair, because our political relations are not good. We need to be realistic in order to make a deal with Egypt…we must have good political relations with Egypt,” he said.

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/383420.aspx