Egypt blocks UN statement on Turkey coup

The Egyptian government, headed by a former general who came to power following a coup in 2013, has blocked a United Nations Security Council statement that called on all parties to “respect the democratically elected government of Turkey,” which fought and largely defeated an attempted coup by a faction of the Turkish military.

The US-drafted statement expressed grave concern about the situation in Turkey, urged the parties to show restraint and avoid any violence or bloodshed, and called for an urgent end to the crisis and return to the rule of law.

Egypt, a member of the Security Council, where statements have to be passed by consensus, objected to the wording of the US-drafted text on the developments in Turkey.

“We proposed different language that respects democratic and constitutional principles but the Americans refused to engage,” Egypt’s UN Ambassador Amr Aboulatta said, trying to shift the blame to the US.

Egypt reportedly asked for a call for all parties to “respect the democratically elected government of Turkey” to be removed from the draft statement, saying, in telltale wording, that the council is “in no position to qualify, or label that government — or any other government for that matter — as democratically elected or not.”

The US and Britain objected to the proposed change, which prompted Egypt to suggest that the council instead call on parties in Turkey to “respect the democratic and constitutional principles and the rule of law.”

The new proposed wording was apparently rejected once again and the statement was kept in its original form. Egypt thus blocked the statement.

That resulted in the Security Council’s failure to condemn the violence in Turkey.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that it was “surprised that its proposed amendment was not taken up, and with the claim that it is obstructing the release of the statement.”

ME