November 24, 2013 -- Updated 0918 GMT (1718 HKT)
Turkey has declared Egypt's envoy to Ankara persona non grata in
response to Cairo's decision to expel the Turkish ambassador, the
Turkish Ministry of Foreign affairs said. FULL STORY
Egypt declares Turkish envoy unwelcome -- Turkey responds in kind
November 24, 2013 -- Updated 0815 GMT (1615 HKT)
A portrait of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy is seen through a Turkish flag during a rally in Istanbul in August.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Egypt asked Turkey's ambassador to leave Saturday
- Turkish media said Egypt attributed the move to Ankara's interference in its affairs
- The Turkish government later declared Egypt's former ambassador unwelcome
- The move follows a worsening in relations since the ousting of President Mohamed Morsy
Cairo blamed its decision to declare Turkish
Ambassador Huseyin Avni Botsali "persona non grata" -- or unwelcome --
on Ankara's interference in its domestic affairs, Turkey's Anadolu
Agency news outlet said.
Turkey accused Egypt of
not respecting "the will of the people," downgraded its diplomatic
relationship with Cairo, and declared its ambassador unwelcome. Cairo
had lowered its diplomatic representation in Turkey to the level of
charge d'affaires and withdrew its ambassador in August.
The diplomatic spat is
the latest sign of a worsening relationship between the two nations and
one that an analyst said vividly illustrated Turkey's "growing isolation
in the Middle East."
The relationship between
the countries went sour after the Egyptian military in July ousted
President Mohamed Morsy and his government.
Morsy, a Muslim
Brotherhood leader, had close ties with Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP).
After it toppled Morsy, Egypt banned the brotherhood's activities and froze its finances.
Erdogan -- who was
accorded a hero's welcome when he visited post-revolution Cairo in late
2011 -- has spoken out strongly against Egypt's post-Morsy leadership.
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Egypt on a 'proper path' to democracy?
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Fadi Hakura from the London think-tank Chatham House told CNN that Saturday's events were "a vivid illustration of Turkey's growing isolation in the Middle East."
"There's a perception
gaining ground in the region that the Turkish government is allied to
the Muslim Brotherhood and that its foreign policy is defined by
sectarian priorities," Hakura said.
"Turkey has tense
relations with Israel, the neighboring countries -- Iran, Syria and Iraq
-- the majority of the Gulf Arab states and Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and
Jordan," he said.
Hakura said U.S. President Barack Obama also was deeply unhappy with Turkish foreign policy in the region.
"Since early August
there has been no telephone contact between the U.S. President and
Turkish Prime Minister and that's a reflection in part with Turkey's
deepening isolation in the Middle East and also frustration in Ankara at
Obama's reluctance to get involved in the conflict in Syria," he said.
Hakura said while
tensions between Cairo and Ankara would not have a major impact on
Turkish-U.S. relations, "what these events do is reduce the importance
of Turkey to U.S. foreign policy calculations."
It is a shift from 2012, when Erdogan told an audience at his party conference
-- that included then-President Morsy -- that Turkey was a role model
for regional democratic Islamist movements in the wake of the Arab
Spring.
"This understating that
we have put forth has gone beyond our borders and has practically become
an example to all Muslim countries," Erdogan said.
Last month Suat
Kiniklioglu, a former lawmaker from Erdogan's AKP party, also warned
that Turkey needed to reprioritize its foreign policy objectives in the
Middle East after suffering serious setbacks in the region in recent
months.
"Egypt is a key actor in the Middle East. There is a clear need to calibrate the language directed at Cairo, as well," Kiniklioglu wrote in the English language Today's Zaman newspaper.
"The falling out with
Israel, the Arab Spring and especially the civil war in Syria have
radically altered Turkey's position in the region," he said. "The coup
in Egypt has added insult to injury. Consequently, Turkey is confronted
with significant challenges on all fronts in the region."
CNN's Ivan Watson and Gul Tuysuz contributed to this report.
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