Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed that former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi “did not die, he was murdered” while speaking at an election rally in Istanbul Wednesday.
Morsi suffered a fatal heart attack following a court appearance Monday and now the Turkish leader has vowed his government “will do whatever it takes” to pursue prosecution of the current Egyptian government, whom he holds responsible for Morsi’s untimely death, in international court.
He also promised to raise the issue of Morsi’s death while in Egyptian police custody at the upcoming G20 summit to be held in Japan at the end of June. In the meantime, he called on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to take action following Morsi’s death, though he did not specify how exactly.

Erdogan has already raised his suspicions about the former Egyptian leader’s death. “Whether it was a normal death, or there were some other elements involved, this [Morsi’s death] was suspicious. Personally, I do not believe that it was a normal death,” Erdogan said following a funeral prayer service held for Morsi Istanbul’s Fatih Mosque.
Morsi came to power after Hosni Mubarak was deposed in the 2011 Arab Spring, after which the Muslim Brotherhood was legalized with Morsi as its preferred candidate, winning the 2012 presidential election. He was, however, overthrown by the military within a year following a spate of mass protests against his rule.
Erdogan himself was often seen as sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood, and closely aligned himself with Morsi during the latter’s short-lived presidency.