Turkey drafts Joint declaration against Egypt’s penalties

Signed by all political parties represented in the parliament, the declaration urged Egypt's administration not to implement the sentences.

"The joint wish of the Turkish nation is that these sentences – which may cast a pall on Egypt's struggle for democracy, as well as its hopes, dreams and future, and be remembered as a disgraceful event in the history of mankind – will not be implemented," the declaration said.

The international community, including officials from the United Nations, EU, the U.S. and human rights watchdogs such as Amnesty International, has also condemned the death sentences.

All the defendants, including 397 people being tried in absentia, faced charges of committing violence, in Minya in August 2013, following the violent dispersal by security forces of pro-democracy sit-ins in Cairo and Giza, which left hundreds of protesters dead.