ERDOGAN: TO ME, MORSI IS EGYPT’S PRESIDENT

Cairo, 4 Sha’ban 1436/22 May 2015 (MINA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that to him the Egyptian President is Mohamed Morsi not Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi.

This came in a press conference with the chairman of three-member Bosnian Presidential Council Mladen Ivanic following a meeting with the council’s members in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

During the meeting, Erdogan expressed his dismay at the decision of the Egyptian judiciary to sentence Morsi and others, including Muslim Brotherhood leaders and members, to death. The court referred the defendants to the Grand Mufti for consultation as per Egyptian law. Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

Erdogan criticised the West for its silence following the announcement of the sentences. “If executions are banned in the European Union, so why do we not hear your voice, EU countries? Why do you not talk? They issue statements that do not have any meaning,” he said.

Last Saturday, the Cairo Criminal Court ordered the referral of Morsi’s papers to the Grand Mufti along with 121 others from a total of 166 defendants in the cases of jail break and espionage. The court set 2 June as a date for a final verdict.

On his part, Bosnian President Mladen Ivanic denied the existence of any disagreements with Turkey, saying that the security institutions in both countries are cooperating to deal with the issue of foreign fighters who join militants in Syria and Iraq.

He stressed that the two countries are in agreement with regard to their joint combat of terrorism. Ivanic stressed that Turkey is an important partner for his country regarding foreign fighters. “There is good cooperation between the security agencies of both countries, and we are pleased about that,” he said.

The Turkish president arrived in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo yesterday on an official one-day visit. (T/P002/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)