dpa
Cairo
Former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi did not die of natural causes but was killed, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed on Wednesday, after the 67-year-old’s sudden collapse in a Cairo courtroom this week.
"Morsi did not die of natural causes, he was killed. Mohammed Morsi unfortunately struggled on the ground for 20 minutes. Authorities there did not respond,” Erdogan said in Istanbul.
Erdogan added that Ankara "will do whatever is needed to put Egypt on trial in international courts.”
He urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to "do what is required.” Egyptian state media had quoted a medical source that Morsi had provided all the necessary medical care as he suffered from high blood pressure, diabetes, nerve inflammation and benign tumour.
Meanwhile, Egypt has accused the United Nations of politicising Morsi’s death after it demanded an independent investigation into his collapse.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez denounced "in the strongest terms” the comments by the spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Morsi’s death.
UN rights spokesman Rupert Colville on Tuesday called for a thorough independent inquiry into the circumstances of Morsi’s death, including the conditions of his detention.
"The remarks are an attempt to deliberately politicise a natural death case... and to cast doubts on the Egyptian state institutions and the integrity of the Egyptian judiciary,” Hafez said.
He added the remarks jumped to "false conclusions that are not based on any proof or evidence.” In a likely reference to Turkey, he said the UN comments matched those issued by officials in a country and entities that are exploiting the incident for political purposes.
Morsi was quietly buried at dawn Tuesday in eastern Cairo with only his family members present.
Cairo
Former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi did not die of natural causes but was killed, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed on Wednesday, after the 67-year-old’s sudden collapse in a Cairo courtroom this week.
"Morsi did not die of natural causes, he was killed. Mohammed Morsi unfortunately struggled on the ground for 20 minutes. Authorities there did not respond,” Erdogan said in Istanbul.
Erdogan added that Ankara "will do whatever is needed to put Egypt on trial in international courts.”
He urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to "do what is required.” Egyptian state media had quoted a medical source that Morsi had provided all the necessary medical care as he suffered from high blood pressure, diabetes, nerve inflammation and benign tumour.
Meanwhile, Egypt has accused the United Nations of politicising Morsi’s death after it demanded an independent investigation into his collapse.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez denounced "in the strongest terms” the comments by the spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Morsi’s death.
UN rights spokesman Rupert Colville on Tuesday called for a thorough independent inquiry into the circumstances of Morsi’s death, including the conditions of his detention.
"The remarks are an attempt to deliberately politicise a natural death case... and to cast doubts on the Egyptian state institutions and the integrity of the Egyptian judiciary,” Hafez said.
He added the remarks jumped to "false conclusions that are not based on any proof or evidence.” In a likely reference to Turkey, he said the UN comments matched those issued by officials in a country and entities that are exploiting the incident for political purposes.
Morsi was quietly buried at dawn Tuesday in eastern Cairo with only his family members present.