Erdogan refused to sit at the same table with the Egyptian president

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to Turkish media "Zaman", "Daily Sabah", and Arab news agencies refused to sit at the same table for lunch at the United Nations organized by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, reports the Patria agency.

President Erdogan was supposed to sit at the same table where a place was also reserved for Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

Erdogan demanded that the violence against the Egyptian government and people be stopped. Most world leaders were surprised by Erdogan's statement, as also announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates. 

Furthermore, the Turkish president stated that the UN, as well as democratic countries, had done nothing regarding the events in Egypt, when Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown and thousands of innocent people who wanted to defend their choice were killed.

He justified his refusal to sit at the same table with al-Sisi by saying: “I do not sit at the same table with coup plotters”, and then left the hall.

Former army commander Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who had been de facto ruling Egypt since overthrowing Mohamed Morsi 11 months ago, was elected president in June of this year. 

Morsi was the first democratically elected head of state in Egypt in July 2012. When millions of Egyptians demanded his departure on July 3, 2013, army commander General Sisi removed him from office and sent him to prison.