Egypt's crackdown divides regional leaders
Muslim Brotherhood ally Turkey has condemned the attacks, while Gulf monarchies, which have pledged $12 billion in support, voiced support for the military.
Muslim Brotherhood ally Turkey has condemned the attacks, while Gulf monarchies, which have pledged $12 billion in support, voiced support for the military.
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Wednesday's deadly crackdown in Egypt has sent shockwaves across the Middle East, as regional governments line up on either side of the military-Islamist divide.
Turkey, Iran, and Qatar 鈥 all of whom have backed Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and former President Mohamed Morsi 鈥 issued condemnations of the Egyptian Army's deadly crackdown, which left hundreds dead and injured.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called out Western nations for not more firmly condemning the violence, which killed more than 600 people, according to the latest estimates. 鈥淎s a matter of fact, if Western countries do not act sincerely on this issue鈥 I believe that democracy will start to be questioned throughout the world,鈥 he was quoted by Hurriyet Daily News as saying.
鈥淭he Security Council of the United Nations should convene quickly to discuss the situation in Egypt,鈥 Mr. Erdogan added. 鈥淭his is a very serious massacre ... against the Egyptian people who were only protesting peacefully.鈥
Iranian President Hassan Rohani also called on the Egyptian military to step back. "I warn Egypt's military that Egyptians are a great and freedom-seeking nation. Do not suppress them," he said in a parliamentary speech, reports the Associated Press.
And a Qatari Foreign Ministry official said in a statement that Qatar "believes that the safest and guaranteed way to resolve the crisis is a peaceful way based on dialogue between parties that have to live together in a pluralist social and political system." Qatar has been a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, The Jerusalem Post notes.
But the Post adds that Qatar is the outlier among the Gulf states, which by and large view the Muslim Brotherhood and similar popular movements as threats. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait have all issued statements in support of the Egyptian military's crackdown, calling it a necessary response to what the UAE called "political extremist groups." The three countries alone have promised $12 billion in aid to Egypt's post-Morsi government.
The regional power that has suffered perhaps the biggest loss of influence due to Egypt's crisis is Turkey. Analysts told Agence France-Presse that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) invested considerable effort in supporting post-Mubarak Egypt, and President Mohamed Morsi's government in particular, in an effort to show the compatibility of Islam and democracy.
Turkey's fierce condemnation of the Egyptian military's crackdown stems in part from its loss of influence, Mr. Turan added. 鈥淭he frustration voiced by Turkey鈥檚 leaders stems not only from the pictures of violence or failure of democracy in Egypt, but also from the collapse of the government鈥檚 dreams to become a regional player,鈥 he said.
And analysts tell The Washington Post that the greatest winners in the Middle East from the turmoil in Egypt are radical jihadists. The Post notes that the region's militant groups broadly condemned the military coup that deposed Mr. Morsi, and likely see the resultant crisis as an opportunity to turn disaffected Islamists in Egypt 鈥 the Muslim Brotherhood has long and repeatedly condemned violence 鈥 into a front line.