by WorldTribune Staff, July 22, 2016
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s scathing criticism of Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi signifies that the Turkish president has lost the ability of “sound judgment,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.
When reports circulated that top officials in Cairo had cheered the news of the coup attempt in Turkey, Erdogan bashed Sisi, saying the Egyptian leader “has nothing to do with democracy. He killed thousands of his own people.”
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry responded on July 21, saying that “among the issues which the Turkish president confuses the most is the ability to distinguish between a full-fledged popular revolution where over 30 million Egyptians went out demanding the armed forces’ support, and military coups by definition.”
Erdogan “is continuing to confuse matters and lose the compass of sound judgment – something that reflects through the tough times he is passing through,” the ministry said, alluding to the military coup in Turkey last week which resulted in deaths of over 230 people and has since prompted a wide-ranging government purge of state institutions.
Cairo has repeatedly accused Ankara of “interference” in its domestic affairs and supporting Islamist militants who carry out terrorist attacks in Egypt.
Turkey continues to provide safe haven to leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in Egypt. Ankara also allows TV stations run by sympathizers of the Brotherhood who criticize the government of Sisi to broadcast out of Turkey.