Erdogan said,”The problem with Egypt is an issue with its administration, especially with its ruler.”
Ankara and Cairo relations have deteriorated after Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led a military coup in 2013 that ouster Egypt’s first democratically-elected leader Mohamed Morsi.
Since then the Egyptian regime launched massive crackdown against Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mohamed Morsi has received several life-in-prison and death sentences for allegedly “conspiring against Egypt” – with Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah – and for supposedly breaking out of jail in 2011.
He has also been sentenced with a 20-year jail term for allegedly committing murder. The former president also faces charges of “insulting” Egypt’s judiciary.
Morsi and his co-defendants, along with a number of independent observers, say the charges are politically driven.
In remarks made following Eid al-Fitr prayer in Istanbul,Erdogan said he could not condone such Egyptian rulings.
Erdogan comments came amid speculations over the rapprochement between the two countries after Turkey amended its ties with Russia and Israel.
Egypt’s foreign ministry stated last week that Turkey’s recognition of the” June 30 Revolution ” and the legitimacy of Egyptian state institutions represents the starting point for improved relations with Turkey.
