Turkey should address its own domestic problems: Egypt’s FM

Turkey should focus on its “worrisome” internal problems Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry told Egyptian Radio on Tuesday, following Turkey’s criticism of a fresh verdict against ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

On Saturday, a Cairo criminal court sentenced Morsi to a total of 40 years behind bars for leaking secret information on general and military intelligence, the armed forces, its armaments and other state secrets to Qatar.

Turkey, a strong ally to Morsi during his one year stint in office, strongly condemned the verdict.

“It is essential that every country should worry and be preoccupied by its internal affairs, and not meddle in others’ affairs,” state news agency MENA reported FM Shoukry as saying on the radio.

Shoukry added that Turkey’s latest problems include the Turkish border guards shooting dead at least 11 people, including two women and four children, mostly from the same family, while they were trying to escape Syria.

The minister added that the verdict against Morsi comes following a thorough judicial process that gave all defendants an opportunity to provide a legal defense.

The four-decade prison sentence against Morsi is the latest in a number of verdicts the ousted president received over the past two years.

He was also sentenced to death in the Wadi Al-Natroun Prison break case.

All his sentences are currently being appealed.

source: Ahram Online