Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused Egypt’s interim rulers of committing state terrorism and compared army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad as scores more were killed in a crackdown and hundreds were besieged in Cairo’s al-Fath Mosque by security forces.
“The Al-Fath Mosque is under siege. People’s place of worship is innocent. They have burned, destroyed our mosques in Syria and in Egypt. Either Bashar or Sisi, there is no difference between them. There is no salvation with oppression,” Erdoğan said during a speech in the north-western province of Bursa on 17 August while attending the launching ceremony of an urban renovation project. Erdoğan also slammed Egyptian officials for describing supporters of toppled President Mohamed Morsi as “terrorists.” “People are saying ‘we ask for our vote to be honoured.’ But there are those calling them terrorists. But I am saying that state terrorism is currently underway in Egypt,” Erdoğan said. “There are currently two paths in Egypt: Those who follow the Pharaoh, and those who follow Moses,” he added. Erdoğan condemned the attacks against places of worship, including churches, but said that supporters of Muslim Brotherhood were mostly protecting those places from being vandalised.