No: 306, 27 September 2014

The statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates directed towards H.E. the President of the Republic of Turkey is contrary to customary practices of diplomacy and can no way be acceptable.

Turkey pursues a foreign policy based on democratic principles, international law and common conscience, taking the legitimate demands of the peoples as the foundation. Turkey voices this policy in international forums in a consistent manner. A consequence of this principled policy is to respect the democratic choices of peoples and to stand against the overthrow of the elected governments through anti-democratic methods such as coup d’états. Methods targeting democracy create profound gaps between the governments and the governed and lead to the questioning of the legitimacy of these governments. Turkey maintains a political stance taking democratic legitimacy as the basis.

Some countries may feel uncomfortable about our stance. However, this does not give those countries the right to question the statements of Mr. President and level improper charges. Such an approach is not compatible with friendship and brotherhood either.

Within this context, we expect the United Arab Emirates which lend support to the military coup in Egypt to be respectful of the basic values of the international relations and refrain from making statements on the issues that are no direct concern of itself.