Turkish president offers condolences over Morsi's demise

ISTANBUL

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday offered his condolences to the family of Egypt's ousted President Mohamed Morsi after he died during a trial in Egypt.

Speaking to the reporters in Istanbul, Erdogan said current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi overthrew democratically-elected Morsi, executing 50 other Egyptians and putting the democracy aside.

"Unfortunately, the incident took place in the court room. I first of all I wish God's mercy for our martyred brother Morsi," Erdogan said.

"The West has always been silent in the face of these executions by Sisi. The EU member states forbidding execution unfortunately accepted an invitation by this murderer Sisi to attend a meeting in Egypt," Erdogan said, describing the EU states as "hypocrites".

Erdogan offered condolences to the family of Morsi and the Egyptian people.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also offered condolences after the demise of Morsi.

"The coup took him away from power, but his memory will not be erased from our hearts. The Ummah will not forget his firm stance! Rest in peace Morsi," Cavusoglu wrote in his Twitter message.

In a Twitter post, ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party's acting chairman Numan Kurtulmus called Morsi "martyr" who had been elected by the legitimate votes of Egyptian people. He also expressed condolences over Morsi's death.

"Egypt's first elected President Mohammed Morsi, was being tried in the courtrooms under the control of the junta after an immoral and unlawful coup. He was martyred in the courtroom," AK Party spokesman Omer Celik said in a Twitter message.

"Those who raised their voices to the coup and searched for ways of appealing fulfilled and are trying to fulfill their duty. But the so-called democratic world could not pass this test. They were silent against the executions and laid the red carpet to the putschists. This shame will always be written on their forehead," Celik said.

Egypt’s first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, died Monday during a court trial on espionage charges, according to state television.

Morsi, 67, first lost consciousness during the trial for which he faced for a host of charges since he was ousted and imprisoned in a 2013 military coup.

There were six criminal charges against the former leader including, jailbreak, murder, spying for Qatar, spying for Hamas and Hezbollah, insulting the judiciary and involvement in terrorism.

Writing by Sibel Ugurlu