by WorldTribune Staff, July 17, 2016

Egypt blocked a United Nations Security Council statement drafted by the United States that called on all parties to “respect the democratically elected government of Turkey,” diplomats said.

The move came after Turkish forces loyal to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned back an alleged military coup on July 16.

The U.S.-drafted statement urged the parties to “show restraint, avoid any violence or bloodshed, and called for an urgent end to the crisis and return to rule of law,” Reuters reported.

Statements by the 15-member Security Council have to be agreed on by consensus.

“We proposed different language that respects democratic and constitutional principles but the Americans refused to engage,” Egypt’s UN Ambassador Amr Aboulatta told Reuters.

Egypt had asked that “respect the democratically elected government of Turkey” be removed from the draft statement, saying the Security Council was “in no position to qualify, or label that government — or any other government for that matter — as democratically elected or not.”

Egypt proposed that the UN call on the parties in Turkey to “respect the democratic and constitutional principles and the rule of law,” diplomats said.

Turkey was a major supporter of former president Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

  Ambassador Amr Aboulatta, Egypt blocks U.S.-drafted UN statement backing Turkish government, UN Security Council, WorldTribune.com