Erdogan sees Morsi as president of Egypt

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday attended a fast breaking meal, organized by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara. Speaking at the dinner, Erdogan said that they were uncomfortable with the statements and sayings of people who came to power with military interference and noted, "Apparently, they appreciate Turkey and they even say that they may talk to Turkey via phone if necessary. What would you say to that? First of all, how would I talk to you? You were not elected. You took office by coup government or by the coup management. Now, even more interestingly, they are sworn in. I call out to the whole world, the western world: the one who held the military coup, so Sisi became a defense minister. Why western world is so quite about that?" Stating that the Egyptian people have not been indifferent to the coup, Erdogan said, "They started asking questions like, ‘where is my vote?’ Egyptians didn't surrender to others imposing their will on them. They went out to streets in unison and launched a noble fight," adding, "Currently my president in Egypt is Morsi, because he was elected by the people. If we don't consider the situation in this way, we would be disregarding the people of Egypt. Disregarding the will of the Egyptian people means disregarding yourself, because in Turkey, we respect the will of the people. We would respect the coup regime if it had won at the ballot box." Erdogan also warned over plots aimed at creating unrest in Turkey, particularly emphasizing that there were attempts to deepen the problems between Alevis and Sunnis. "What does being an Alevi or Sunni mean? If being an Alevi means loving the caliph Ali, I’m a perfect Alevi. I try to live the way he did," he said. Reiterating that there was a "plot" against the government during the nationwide Gezi Park protests that spread across the country after being sparked at the end of May, Erdogan said, "This plot that happened while we were witnessing the most successful month of May of our history and obtaining gratifying results in democratization, the economy, and foreign policy is not a coincidence," adding, "They may attack us with their social media and other forces that back them, but we will resist against all these attacks."