In an urgent statement on Sunday, Egyptian MP Emad Mahrous demanded that the Egyptian government give asylum to exiled Turkish opposition figure Fethullah Gulen.
Mahrous' statement was sent to parliamentary speaker Ali Abdel-Aal, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, and Foreign Minister Sameh Shokry.
Mahrous, a member of the Democratic Peace Party, told parliamentary reporters that his statement reflects the wish of millions of Egyptians who have closely followed the recent dramatic developments in Turkey.
"This was a moderate Muslim country that has become an Islamist dictatorship at the hands of (Turkish president) Recep Tayyib Erdogan and his affiliated Muslim Brotherhood political party," said Mahrous, an MP from the Nile-Delta governorate of Beheira.
Mahrous indicated that he found it highly distasteful that Erdogan is demanding that the United States extradite his political opponent Gulen.
"This happens while Erdogan is giving shelter to hundreds of leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organisation and members of other bloody militant Islamist groups which attack Egypt by day and night," said Mahrous.
Mahrous also noted that not only has Erdogan accused Gulen of organising a coup against him, he has also exploited this allegation to shut down hundreds of schools and media outlets affiliated with him.
"But the same time Erdogan has decided to turn Turkey into a media battleground against Egypt, with Turkish intelligence providing funds for several Muslim Brotherhood TV channels to attack Egypt," said Mahrous.
Mahrous said his personal advice to Gulen is that he should not wait until the United States extradites him to Turkey.
"He should soon leave the US for Egypt in the same way Iran's former shah Mohamed Reza Bahlawi left the US for Egypt in the aftermath of the Iranian Islamist Revolution in 1979," said Mahrous, adding that "at that time the courageous late president Anwar Sadat gave Bahlawi a safe shelter in Egypt regardless of all the threats that were issued by Iran's ayatollahs."
