Erdogan: Turkey Has Evidence That Israel Is Behind Military Coup in Egypt

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused Israel of being responsible for the military takeover in Egypt, saying that he has "evidence" that points to Israel's involvement.

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According to the Turkish newspaper Today's Zaman, Erdogan met with members of his party in Ankara on Tuesday and said: "Israel is behind the coup in Egypt, we have evidence."

The report also said that Erdogan mentioned the words of a French Jewish intellectual, who he did not name, who said in 2011 that the Muslim Brotherhood will not take power even if they were to be elected since "democracy is not the ballot box."

In March, reconciliation efforts between Israel and Turkey began after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Erdogan to apologize for the botched raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010 that killed eight Turks and one Turkish-American.

Erdogan suggested that normalization of ties with Israel would take time, hinting that Turkey wanted to ensure the victims of the flotilla raid were compensated and Israel remained committed to the easing of restrictions of goods to Gaza before restoring relations. The two countries have yet to decide on the exact sum of compensation that would be given to the flotilla victims' families.