Turkey denies suspending cooperation agreements with Egypt after massacre

Turkey has denied reports that it has suspended the cooperation agreements it signed with Egypt during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Cairo last November after the Egyptian army committed mass killings in Cairo last weekend. At least 72 Muslim Brotherhood supporters were shot dead by security forces on Saturday, deepening the turmoil surrounding the country since the army forced out Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi from power on July 3. Official sources speaking to Today's Zaman have denied reports in the Turkish media claiming that Turkey decided to suspend a number of cooperation agreements, some covering the defense industry, which it signed with Egypt in 2012, saying that no such plan is on the agenda. The North African country is expected to acquire 10 Ankas (unmanned aerial vehicles) from Turkey according to these agreements. Turkey is one of the countries that most loudly criticized the overthrow of democratically elected President Morsi from power by a military intervention. Senior Turkish officials, including Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, have also harshly criticized the Western stance after the military intervention because of their reluctance to call the intervention a "coup." The same sources also said that Ahmet Yildiz, the new Turkish ambassador appointed to Cairo, has delayed the start of his mission in the North African country, noting that Huseyin Avni Botsali, the current Turkish ambassador in Cairo, would remain in his mission until the political turmoil in the country has settled down to a certain degree.