Turkey President claims former Egyptian president, Morsi was killed, didn’t die naturally

Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, said in a rally in Istanbul Wednesday that Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president did not die naturally.

Morsi, who was serving out a reduced 20-year sentence, was speaking in a court appearance on Tuesday before he fainted and was subsequently pronounced dead in hospital.

Erdogan, who was close to Morsi during his lifetime, said the Muslim Brotherhood member, was killed by Egyptian authorities and has sworn to see them prosecuted in an international court.

“Unfortunately, Mohamed Morsi was on the ground of the courtroom flailing for 20 minutes. No official there intervened. Morsi did not [die] naturally, he was killed.”

In a reaction, the office of the attorney in Egypt said Morsi was not killed but was immediately rushed to hospital after he collapsed. Erdogan called on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to act on the 67-year old former president’s death.

The ex-Egyptian president who was accused of having ties with the militant arm of Hamas- the political organization that controls the Palestinian border town of Gaza, is said to have been suffering from diabetes, hypertension and liver disease. Morsi fell down after speaking during a re-trial hearing in Cairo over charges of collaborating with foreign powers and militant groups.

Erdogan is fast becoming a crime detective. He was the first leader to link Crowned Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, to the death of Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent journalist who criticized Bin Salman’s policies as de facto leader of the Arab kingdom.