Egypt politician calls Erdogan a “crook”, accuses Egypt PM of leniency with Muslim Brotherhood

Egyptian politician Talaat Sadat gave a fiery speech at the opening of his new Egypt National Party and in which he slammed Turkish and Egyptian prime ministers and downplayed the role of Islamists in the country.

“Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a crook,” Sadat said at the inauguration of his party at the Fayyoum governorate.

Sadat accused Erdogan of having a hidden agenda for visiting Egypt as part of a tour that included Libya and Tunisia, the Egyptian daily al-Youm al-Sabea reported Saturday.

“He wanted to prove to Europe and the U.S. that the keys to Egypt and its people are in Turkey’s possession until his country is able to join the European Union.”

Sadat, who is the nephew of late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, added that Erdogan is hoping to restore the power of the Ottoman Empire and to achieve more hegemony in the region.

Commenting on the Turkish prime minister’s rising influence on Muslim states and his latest stance against Israel, Sadat said he saw the opposite when he went to Turkey.

“In Turkey, women were half naked and restaurants were keen to satisfy Israeli tourists.”

Sadat similarly slammed Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, who he said is acting like a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“He is leaving Egypt in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood who are determined to control syndicates and municipal councils.”

However, Sadat downplayed the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis on Egypt’s political future.

“Salafis and the Muslim Brotherhood do not number more than two million and it is next to impossible that they rule 85 million.”

Sadat added that both groups use religion to gain popularity and access as many seats as possible in the parliament.

As for the storming of the Israeli embassy by angry Egyptian protestors, Sadat explained that this was a pre-planned charade.

“Instead of them apologizing to us for killing our soldiers, it is us now that need to apologize.”

Sadat, a former member of the People’s Assembly, Egypt’s lower house of parliament, talked about the upcoming parliamentary elections and said that the qualifications of MPs should change in the coming stage.

“The new MPs should be outspoken. In the past, the majority of MPs did not say a word during sessions.”

(This article was translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)