KUALA LUMPUR, August 14: Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim criticised the silence of the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) regarding the on-going Egyptian conflict.
He said the failure is in reference to the supposed flagship democracies like the US and the EU who are unable or unwilling to call the Egyptian conflict a coup, let alone condemn it, bespeaks the double standards of these democracies.
“By remaining silent when the military issued its ultimatum to President Morsi, the West became complicit.
“The failure to condemn the coup after the fact sealed its culpability, reigniting the debate about inconsistencies in Western foreign policy when it concerns countries governed by democratically elected parties oriented towards political Islam,” he wrote.
Citing the Keadilan Daily, the sharp criticism was published in an article in the Aljazeera.com website written by Anwar, titled The Egyptian coup and the lessons of Turkey.
He also quoted a speech by the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istabul which condemned the coup in Egypt as “damaging, inhuman and against the people, national will and democracy”.
Anwar said, in this impassioned denunciation, Erdogan is not just giving a knee-jerk response but articulating Turkey’s lessons of history akin to the conflict in Egypt.
He said that Turkey faced military interventions previously but the people fought hard to defend the thriving democracy in the country.
Anwar also called on the West, particularly the United States, to take action to restore democracy and human rights, and to not support the coup in Egypt.
“They must demand for the immediate release of President Morsi and his supporters. President Morsi must be reinstated to his rightful office and he in turn must immediately initiate a national dialogue that includes all sides.” he said.
