By Nawal Sayed
CAIRO, Feb. 27 (SEE) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent remarks on Egypt and its political leadership reflect his hatred and show his continuous willingness to embrace terrorist group of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s Official Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez.
Hafez said that Erdogan’s statements are nonsense based on unforgivable crimes that the Turkish leader has committed. These crimes include:
• Arresting more than 175 journalists
• Published reports showing that there are more than 70.000 political detainees in Turkey
• More than 130 civil servants were fired
• Over 3000 universities and educational institutions were confiscated
• Arrest warrants against more than 1400 civilians were issued in the last two weeks
• Punishable procedures were taken against dozens of academics, journalists and public figures
• 27 academics were seen convicted after signing a bulletin in 2016 calling for ending a 30-year conflict between Turkey and Kurds
“These facts prove the Turkish president’s lack of credibility,” Hafez noted.
In a related context, Turkish and international human rights organizations called on Turkish government to end what they termed as an “orchestrated campaign of intimidation and judicial harassment of civil society,” after prosecutors moved to indict 16 prominent activists.
Riot police detain a demonstrator during a protest against the arrest of the city's popular two joint mayors for alleged links to terrorism, in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar“Prosecutors are seeking life prison terms without parole against philanthropist businessman Osman Kavala and 15 other people accused of attempting to overthrow the government through supporting mass anti-government protests in 2013,” Turkish state media reported on Wednesday.
US-based Associated Press news agency revealed that nine human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, gathered in Istanbul on Wednesday and called the accusations “absurd.”
The 2013 protests started with an environmental cause; protecting Gezi Park in central Istanbul. They quickly broadened into demonstrations opposing the government.
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