Egypt court 'lacks jurisdiction' to hear Turkey terror case

CAIRO

An Egyptian court said Tuesday that it lacked jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit calling on Egypt to designate Turkey a "state sponsor of terrorism."

The Alexandria Court for Urgent Matters said it lacked jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit urging the Egyptian government to label Turkey a "terrorism-sponsoring state" and to designate the April 6 activist group, the main support bloc of ousted President Mohamed Morsi and Palestinian movement Hamas as "terrorist organizations."

Lawyer Tarek Mahmoud – who filed the four lawsuits – says that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had supported Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and had criticized Morsi's ouster by the army in mid-2013.

Mahmoud also claimed Turkey was the main source of weapons entering Egypt, which, he asserted, were ending up in the hands of "terrorists."

"Turkey adopted hostile stances against Egypt after it became a haven for Muslim Brotherhood leaders who face criminal charges in Egypt," a judicial source quoted Mahmoud as saying in his lawsuit.

Last month, the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters adjourned to April 6 another lawsuit that accused Turkey of "supporting all crimes committed on Egyptian soil" and "inciting the murder of police officers and the torching of state buildings."

Relations between Egypt and Turkey have soured dramatically since the army ousted Morsi – Egypt's first freely elected leader – in mid-2013 following opposition protests against his presidency.

Turkey has been among the few countries to openly describe the 2013 seizure of power by the Egyptian army – headed at the time by current President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi – as a "military coup."

CAIRO

An Egyptian court said Tuesday that it lacked jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit calling on Egypt to designate Turkey a "state sponsor of terrorism."

Mahmoud also claimed Turkey was the main source of weapons entering Egypt, which, he asserted, were ending up in the hands of "terrorists."

"Turkey adopted hostile stances against Egypt after it became a haven for Muslim Brotherhood leaders who face criminal charges in Egypt," a judicial source quoted Mahmoud as saying in his lawsuit.

Relations between Egypt and Turkey have soured dramatically since the army ousted Morsi – Egypt's first freely elected leader – in mid-2013 following opposition protests against his presidency.

Turkey has been among the few countries to openly describe the 2013 seizure of power by the Egyptian army – headed at the time by current President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi – as a "military coup."