Erdogan criticizes Egypt's leading Islamic cleric

Speaking at a university named after him in Black Sea Province of Rize on August 25, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the situation in Egypt in the last few weeks was related not only with politics, but also with sociology, international relations, history and struggle for democratization. Erdogan added that important historical thresholds were being passed and important situations were being witnessed. Referring to the Sheikh of Al-Azhar University, Erdogan said, "When I saw the Sheikh of Al Azhar University beside the coup perpetrators, I was disappointed. How can you ever do it? A coup is coup, there could not be a democratic coup." Erdogan also said some people in Turkey and abroad were trying to comfort their conscience by saying that besides military, ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi also made mistakes. Erdogan noted that Morsi could be removed from power by elections, if he made mistakes, but they could not tolerate the one-year rule of an elected Morsi.