Turkish media is reporting on comments by Egyptian government officials who are said by Turkish opposition leaders to have complained that Turkey “overidentified itself with the Muslim Brotherhood.” According to the Hürriyet Daily News report:
The Egyptian authorities say Turkey ‘overidentified itself with the Muslim Brotherhood,’ a main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy has said after talks in Cairo.
CHP Deputy Chair Öztürk Y?lmaz said at a March 30 press conference that Egyptian officials are ‘uneasy with the language’ used by Turkish leaders against the country.
‘They said Turkey overidentified itself with the Muslim Brotherhood and this is wrong. They stressed that Turkey should not interfere in the domestic affairs [of Egypt],’ Y?lmaz said.
Y?lmaz was accompanied by CHP Istanbul deputy O?uz Kaan Sal?c? and Bal?kesir deputy Ahmet Ak?n, both members of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission, during contacts in Egypt. They met with the country’s deputy parliament speaker, deputy foreign minister, deputy minister for chambers and industry, representatives of all political parties at parliament, and Turkish businesspeople in Egypt.
The visit was aimed at ‘opening new channels with a new mindset and language,’ taking cooperation as a basis while also showing utmost care to the principle of not interfering in domestic affairs, Y?lmaz said, adding that they had informed the Turkish chargé d’affaires based in Cairo regarding the details of their meetings.
‘Egypt wants Turkey to cooperate with the current administration, not to use an offending language, and not to overidentify itself with the Muslim Brotherhood,’ he said.
Ties between Ankara and Cairo have been strained since former army chief, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, after mass protests against his rule. The Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have expressed anger over the coup targeting one of their key regional allies.
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A 2011 report authored by the GMBDW was the first to report on the growing role of Turkey in the Global Muslim Brotherhood, including its support of Hamas. As the abstract of that report states:
There is strong evidence for Turkish governmental involvement in the Gaza flotilla incident, with Turkish government support channeled through the Turkish Muslim Brotherhood network. Since 2006, Turkey has become a new center for the Global Muslim Brotherhood.
(Note: Turkish fonts do not reproduce accurately; we are working on the issue)