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Turkey monitoring events in Egypt with great concern

05 July 2013 00:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Turkey is monitoring the recent political developments in Egypt with great concern, the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated in a press release following reverberations of the military coup that toppled democratically elected President Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Turkish media.

“Turkey considers the stability and security of its friend and brother Egypt of vital importance for both Turkey and the region as a whole,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in the statement, pointing out that Turkey supported this expression of the free will of the noble Egyptian people following what it terms the Egyptian Revolution, which has gone down in history as the Revolution of the 25th of January.

Turkey asserted that Egypt has made significant progress on the path of democracy over the course of the past two years by holding presidential and parliamentary elections, key features of a democratic system. The Turkish Foreign Ministry noted in the statement that those steps were taken in accordance with democratic principles and rules, and have been great achievements of the Egyptian people.

Ankara highlighted the significance of the maintenance of the democratic process, saying that national consensus to be built on those achievements will lead Egypt towards a brighter and more prosperous future.

“We are deeply distressed at this point in time by the events that have occurred between groups of differing views, events that have also led to the loss of life. We wish for God's peace to be upon those who have lost their lives and a speedy recovery for the injured,” the statement read.

Ankara says “all parties should exert every effort to support and strengthen Egypt's unity and solidarity, democratic institutions, stability and economic development, and refrain from all forms of violence and provocation.”

Turkey also insists that in democracies political leaders who come to power through elections should leave power by way of elections, and not by any other means.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry stated that both the Egyptian people and the administration are fully competent to determine a roadmap to overcome the current crisis through democratic means. “Respecting the free will of the Egyptian people within the confines of constitutional legitimacy will strengthen the democratic system in Egypt.”

Turkey said it hopes that all parties in Egypt will refrain from violence, respect the rule of law and act with utmost common sense and restraint. “We believe a societal consensus needs to emerge through dialogue and mutual understanding on the basis of constitutional democracy in order to overcome tensions and bring as soon as possible the current developments to an end.”

Ankara says it has a strong belief in the North African country, saying that Egypt has the culture, political will and wealth of knowledge to achieve the goal of social consensus.

The statement concludes that Turkey will continue to stand by Egypt and support its political stability, unity and solidarity, and economic prosperity.