Erdogan attends opening ceremony of new metro line in Istanbul

A new metro line on Istanbul's European side costing a total of TL 2.86 billion ($1.44 billion) was inaugurated on Sunday with the participation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy leaders Suleyman Soylu and Mustafa Sentop, Governor of Istanbul Avni Mutlu, Mayor of Istanbul Kadir Topbas and AKP's Istanbul provincial chairman Aziz Babuscu. Speaking at the ceremony, Erdogan said, "Istanbul now has a new metro line of 21.7 kilometers. With this latest line, the city's metro lines measure 124.4 kilometers in total. We have added 79 kilometers of new lines in the last nine years." Addressing the crowd, Erdogan also slammed the military overthrow of elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and called for his immediate release. Stating that Turkey is on the side of democracy in Egypt and united with Egyptian people, Erdogan urged respect for the will of Egypt's people. "The European Union has not yet made a statement condemning the coup. Where is your EU acquis? The United Nations hasn't made a resolute statement. Some Muslim countries have not rebuked the coup with courage," Erdogan said, adding, "May nobody deceive anybody. In Egypt, a coup has been staged. And a coup, whomever it targets, is bad and prejudicial. It murders democracy and the future. Those who don't call a coup a coup are the supporters of a coup."