His message offered condolences to Jordanians and King Abdullah of Jordan after footage on Tuesday purported to show masked gunmen putting captured Jordanian pilot Mouath al-Kasaesbeh in a cage and burning him to death. "I condemn the killing of the pilot by ISIS, and offer my condolences to his family and Jordanians," he said. Jordan and Saudi Arabia are part of the U.S.-led alliance bombing ISIS, which has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria.
Furthermore, Erdoğan touched on the recent death penalties handed down by the Egyptian court, calling it unacceptable. "I hereby call out to the international community to condemn the death penalty given to 183 people by Egypt's coup administration. They're telling me to keep calm. How can we keep calm when people get executed for objecting to a coup," he said.
In response to the Egyptian court's decision on Monday to uphold 183 death sentences, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said: "We issued a condemnation." The Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement Tuesday saying the ruling was "far from a fair trial" and would not provide the country with permanent peace or stability. "We will continue our solidarity with the brotherly Egyptian people," the statement read.
"These decisions will not bring any benefit for the normalization of Egypt," Bilgiç said. The defendants, many of whom are supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and members of the Muslim Brotherhood group, were sentenced to death for their alleged involvement in an attack on a police station in the town of Kerdasa in August 2013.
Commenting on the sour Cyprus issue, Bilgiç said that Turkey wants to find a solution to the Cyprus issue based on political equality. "Our wish is to resume the negotiation process as soon as possible and find a solution based on political equality on the island," Bilgiç said. "Our priority is to ensure full benefits for the Cypriot people," he said.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, during his first official visit to southern Cyprus Monday, said, "Turkey's sending of the Barbaros Hayrettin seismic vessel (in October last year) is a clear violation of international law and sabotages peace negotiations."
Tsipras called on Turkey to respect international law and not threaten Greece for the continuation of negotiations. Turkey and the government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus have strongly opposed any "unilateral" move by the Greek-Cypriot administration to explore any hydrocarbon resources around the island, saying its natural resources should be exploited in a fair manner under a united Cyprus.
Negotiations between the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Greek Cypriot administration had resumed after a two-year pause in February 2013. However, the Greek Cypriot administration suspended the talks over the divided island on October 7 after Turkey sent a ship to monitor an oil-and-gas exploration mission off the coast of Cyprus. Turkey and Greece are the guarantor countries for the disputed Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Both Turkish and Greek Cypriots are trying to find a way to settle their decades-long conflict.
On the issue of Crimean Tatars, who ethnically self-identify as Turkic, Bilgiç said the priority was to improve their conditions. "Our policy on the Crimea issue is clear. We say we will not recognize the annexation of Crimea," he said.
He also added Turkey would send an unofficial delegation to Crimea to observe the situation of Crimean Tatars. The Crimean city of Simferopol witnessed clashes on February 26, 2014, when Crimean Tatars and other pro-Ukrainian activists clashed with pro-Russian demonstrators.
A referendum on the status of Crimea was held on March 16, 2014. A majority of the Crimean population voted to become part of the Russian Federation. The U.S. and EU denounced the referendum as illegitimate, as the region was occupied by Russian soldiers at the time. According to Turkey's Foreign Ministry, there are 280,000 Crimean Tatars in Crimea, about 13 percent of the total population.
Contributed by wires
