• 05:04
  • Thursday ,05 February 2015
العربية

Turkey's criticism of death sentences is "ironic" – Egyptian Foreign Ministry

By Aswat Masriya

Home News

00:02

Thursday ,05 February 2015

Turkey's criticism of death sentences is

Egypt criticised on Wednesday the Turkish condemnation of the recent ratification of death sentences by an Egyptian court.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it "would have been more useful for the Turkish Foreign Ministry to heed to internal affairs."

A court ratified on Monday death sentences served to 183 people accused of killing policemen in Giza's Kerdasa neighbourhood in 2013.

The Turkish ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement on Tuesday saying it "strongly condemns the decision to ratify the mass executions."

Turkey added that peace and stability in Egypt will not be achieved through "mass executions" that are "far from fair trials."

It added that it will continue to show solidarity with the Egyptian people.

In its response Egypt said that the Turkish comments did not take into account the feelings of "the families of the martyrs and their inherent right to the enforcement of justice."

The defendants in this trial are accused of killing at least 11 policemen, mutilating their bodies and the attempted murder of 10 others.    

The Egyptian statement added "perhaps what is ironic in the Turkish Foreign Ministry's statement is that it contains a reference to Turkey standing by the Egyptian people."

"All practices and statements by Turkish officials assert hostility towards the Egyptian people… and disregard for their independent choices," the Egyptian ministry said.

The Egyptian response added that this is reflected in Turkey's "continued support of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood…"

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said it recently summoned the Turkish charge d'affairs in Cairo over the airing of "terrorist" and "incendiary" channels from inside Turkey.

Egyptian-Turkish ties have been strained since July 2013, when former president and Brotherhood politician Mohamed Mursi was removed from power by the military, following mass protests against his rule. Turkey has vocally opposed this power shift.

The Brotherhood has been considered a "terrorist organisation" by the Egyptian government since December 2013 and most of its leaders and prominent figures have been arrested and charged with a wide array of charges.