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Thousands in Istanbul pray for ex-Egyptian president Morsi
ISTANBUL, June 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Thousands joined in prayer in Istanbul
on Tuesday for former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi who died the previous
day after collapsing during a trial hearing in a Cairo court.
The prayers, called by Turkey’s religious authority Diyanet, took place in
the city’s Fatih mosque. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a close ally of
Morsi, is due to attend afternoon prayers there.
Ankara’s relations with Cairo deteriorated after the Egyptian military,
then led by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, ousted Morsi in 2013. Sisi then became
president.
Erdogan on Monday called Morsi a “martyr” and blamed Egypt’s “tyrants” for
his death.
Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president in 2012 after the
Arab Spring uprisings, was overthrown after a turbulent year in power.
He was buried on Tuesday, as rights groups including Amnesty International
and Human Rights Watch called for an independent probe into the causes of his
death.
BSS/AFP/RY/1830 hrs