Turkey slams Egypt for blocking U.N. statement on coup attempt

Monday 18-07-2016 03:58 PM

Turkish prime minister Rajab Tayyeb Erdogan

CAIRO, Jul 17 (Aswat Masriya) – Turkey's foreign ministry said Sunday that Egypt's objection to the "democratically elected government" phrase in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) statement was "natural".

Egypt was accused of blocking a UNSC resolution condemning the attempted coup in Turkey, reuters reported. Egypt's ministry of foreign affairs however denied the reports, saying Egypt had only proposed a minor amendment.

Turkey's foreign ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said that Egypt's objection to the resolution was "natural", Anadolu Agency reported .

“It’s natural for those who came to power through a coup to refrain from taking a stance against the attempted coup that targeted our president and government, who came to power through democratic elections,” Bilgiç said during a press conference.

According to a statement by Egypt's foreign ministry, Egypt asked for a call for all parties to respect the diplomatic and constitutional principles and the rule of law, rather than the statement's initial wording which called for respect of "the democratically elected government in Turkey".

Cairo said the council is in no position to qualify, or label that government - or any other government for that matter - as democratically elected or not.

Turkish military declared late on Friday they've taken control of the country, before forces loyal to the government managed to fight back and quashed an attempted military coup as crowds answered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call to take to the streets in support of the government.

Egyptian ties with Turkey have deteriorated since 2013, when Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led a military ouster of then-president Mohamed Mursi, following mass protests against Mursi's rule.

Sisi, the country's defence minister under Mursi, was elected as a president with a sweeping majority in 2014.

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