Turkish FM slams EU 'hypocrisy' on Egypt executions

By Sibel Morrow

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s foreign minister on Tuesday blasted the "hypocrisy" of European leaders for attending a summit in Egypt in the wake of last week’s executions in the country.

"It is a double standard and hypocrisy that all EU leaders went [to Egypt] and were with [Egyptian President Abdel Fattah] al-Sisi," Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara.

Cavusoglu's remarks came after the first EU-Arab summit opened in Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday with a high turnout from European officials despite the mass execution of nine young men in connection with a 2015 assassination.

Citing the EU's "threatening" remarks over Turkey considering restoring capital punishment following a 2016 coup attempt, Cavusoglu accused the EU of taking an inconsistent stance after the executions in Egypt.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Cavusoglu blasted the rank hypocrisy of "the cradle of democracy," meaning the EU.

- 'They have no values'

"These countries actually have no values anymore," Cavusoglu said, adding that racism, xenophobia and extremism have "eroded" what they call "common European values".

Last week, Egyptian authorities executed nine young men convicted of assassinating Hisham Barakat, Egypt's prosecutor-general, in 2015.

Amnesty International said the men were convicted on terrorism charges after "grossly unfair trials" marred by alleged torture.

The sentences were carried out despite calls by numerous international rights groups for a stay of execution.

Earlier this month, the Egyptian authorities executed another six people in two separate cases for the murder of a judge’s son and a senior police officer.

Egypt has remained beset by violence and turmoil since the army deposed Mohamed Morsi, the country's first freely elected president, in a 2013 coup.