Within hours after the death of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan released a statement calling Morsi a ‘martyr’. Morsi, who was deposed in July 2013 following mass protests against his and the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule, died of a heart attack in court moments after speaking at a trial. “May Allah rest our Morsi brother, our martyr’s soul in peace,” said Erdogan, who had been a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and Morsi following their ouster in 2013 in a statement. Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani similarly released a statement shortly after Morsi’s death, sending his condolences to Morsi’s family and the Egyptian people. “We received with great sorrow the news of the sudden death of former president Dr Mohamed Morsi. I offer my deepest condolences to his family and Egyptian people. We belong to God and to him we shall return,” said Sheikh Tamim on Twitter. The two leaders are notably the only foreign leaders, at the time of this article’s publication, to have released any statements marking Morsi’s death. Egypt’s relationship with both countries deteriorated following the July 2013 ouster…
