Turkish PM blasts West for not terming army intervention ‘a coup’

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has strongly criticized Western nations, particularly the European Union, for turning a blind eye to the army intervention in Egypt that overthrew former President Mohammed Morsi and put in place an interim technocrat president to lead the country out of the political standoff, Today’s Zaman reports.

Erdoğan leveled criticism against Western nations for not terming the army intervention a “military coup” and said this doesn't fit into values of the West. He said all coups, no matter where or against whom they take place, are “bad, inhumane and the enemy of democracy.”

The PM said he is surprised at the Western reaction to the coup and stated that these nations failed to describe it as a “coup.” “What happened to their democratic ideals? This is a test of sincerity,” Erdoğan said, referring to “double standards.”

Erdoğan was alluding to last month's criticism of Turkey by the EU after police used heavy-handed methods to quell the protests linked to Gezi Park, adjacent to İstanbul's famed Taksim Square. For days, Erdoğan criticized the EU for siding with the protesters and blasted a decision by the European Parliament rebuking Ankara for its handling of the unrest.

Erdoğan urged the EU to again read its “EU acquis,” a lengthy charter that governs EU values and norms. However, he hailed the African Union for suspending Egypt's membership after the army removed Morsi and suspended the constitution.

The prime minister also lashed out at those who call the army intervention “popular” and said the intervention cannot be justified as democratic behavior. He said he is calling what happened in Egypt a “military coup” and not an “intervention.”