Egypt has told the Turkish ambassador to leave the country, a day after the Turkish leader called for ousted President Mohammed Morsi to be freed.From DW:
Relations with Ankara would be lowered to charge d'affaires, officials said.
On Friday, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated his criticism of the July overthrow of Mr Morsi and urged the Egyptian authorities to free him.
Egypt's foreign ministry accused Mr Erdogan of provocation and interfering in Egypt's internal affairs.
Egypt's decision on Saturday to downgrade relations with Turkey and expel the country's ambassador, Hussein Awni Botsala, from Cairo led to an escalation in diplomatic exchanges between the two countries.If self-avowed Middle East experts are right, then in no time Sisi will send Erdogan a bouquet of flowers, because that's how things work there.
Tensions have mounted since the summer, after a military coup ousted the Islamist Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi (left in picture), of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) and his Justice and Development party have quite vocally protested.
"[Turkey's] leadership has persisted in its unacceptable and unjustified positions by trying to turn the international community against Egyptian interests and ... by making statements that can only be described as an offense to the popular will," the Foreign Ministry said.
Turkey then expelled Egypt's ambassador, who had not resided in Ankara since August. The decisions represent a dramatic reversal of the relations between the two countries, which had warmed over the past year. Both countries will remain represented in each other's capitals by embassies headed by a charge d'affaires, effectively the second in command.
(h/t Yoel)