Egypt says summons Turkish envoy over Erdogan comments on Palestinians

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara July 22, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas reuters_tickers

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt will summon the Turkish charge d’affaires in protest at comments by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who accused Egypt of lacking a sincere approach to the Palestinian issue, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Erdogan made the comments in a recent interview with broadcaster CNN. The most senior Turkish diplomat in Egypt was already summoned earlier this month after Erdogan called Egypt’s President an “illegitimate tyrant”.

Relations between Egypt and Turkey have soured since the Egyptian army last year ousted the governing Muslim Brotherhood, which Erdogan supports.

(This story has been corrected to say charge d’affaires was summoned earlier this month)

(Reporting by Yasmine Saleh, editing by John Stonestreet)