Israel Matzav

Egypt tells Erdogan to stay home

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan surely misses his old buddy and pal, ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy. I, on the other hand, am taking a liking to Egypt's new military rulers. On Sunday, the Egyptian army told Erdogan to stay home. They're not going to let him in for a provocative visit to Gaza either.

Egyptian media is reporting on Sunday that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s anticipated visit to the Gaza Strip has been canceled, according to Israel Radio.

Erdogan, who was due in Gaza last month but postponed the visit following the Egyptian military’s overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, has provoked the wrath of the army-backed government in Cairo over his fervent condemnations of Morsi’s ouster and his overt sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Turkish premier was highly critical of what he viewed as the West’s passive response in allowing the Egyptian army to take down a democratically elected government.

Erdogan accused Western and Arab nations of "double standards" for failing to condemn the overthrow Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood like Erdogan has Islamist roots.

In other news, Turkish police fired teargas and water canons at protesters outside Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday night. Sounds to me like Erdogan has more important things to worry about than Gaza.

Heh.

Labels: Egyptian army, Gaza, Hamas, Mohammed Morsy, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, Turkish anti-Semitism, Turkish obsession with Israel

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:34 PM