Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Dr. Ali Erbaş, the Turkish minister of religious affairs, spoke at a June 18, 2019 memorial service that was held in Turkey in honor of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, who had died the previous day. Erbaş referred to Morsi as a martyr and prayed for Allah to grant Turkish children and youth the ability to view people like Morsi as role models. Erdoğan said that he believes that Morsi, who he also said was a martyr, did not die a "normal" death, and that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is a weak coward, a tyrant, and a killer who should burn in Hell. He also criticized the West for remaining silent about Morsi's death, and he said that there are people like Sisi in Turkey who threaten him with the same fate as Morsi's. Erdoğan cautioned the audience against these people and said: "If they understood [martyrdom], they would not say these things."
The crowd chanted several slogans, including: "Down with the rule of the military," "Allah is our goal, the Prophet Muhammad is our role model, the Quran is our constitution, jihad is our path, and death for the sake of Allah is our loftiest aspiration," and "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the Army of Muhammad will return." The videos in this clip were uploaded to the Internet by the YouTube channel of the Turkish Ministry of Religious Affairs and TicToc by Bloomberg.
To view the clip of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on MEMRI TV, click here or below.
"Personally, Right Now I Have No Belief That This Was A Normal Death"
Dr. Ali Erbaş: "In the Holy Quran, our Lord tells us that every soul will taste death. Some will taste death in bed and some will become sick and die, but some will taste the reality of death by drinking the elixir of martyrdom. Some martyrs are martyred in the soldiers' battlefields, standing with their swords against the enemies and the tyrants. Some martyrs – some people, some heroes – pass their lives by proclaiming the truth against the tyrants, and that is how they are martyred. The departed Mohamed Morsi completed his life and drank the elixir of martyrdom by proclaiming these truths into the faces of the tyrants. Lord, grant all our young people – all our children – the ability to grow up viewing people like this as role models, and grant us the ability to raise them to do so."
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Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: "As you know, last night, at about 7:00 pm Turkish time, during a trial, Mohamed Morsi walked to our Lord. Of course, it is thought-provoking whether this was a normal walk, or if there are other situations here or not. Personally, right now I have no belief that this was a normal death. Yet, they are such cowards that they will not surrender Mohamed Morsi's [body] to his family.
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"Sisi continues his cruelty in this way. The approval of the Egyptian courts, which recently – in a very short time – ruled to execute more than fifty people, young, and old... [this] came from Sisi. They brought seven young people at the same time to be executed. And, unfortunately, the world remained silent about these young people who were brought to be executed. Even though the European Union says that execution is forbidden, by attending a meeting in Egypt, unfortunately, those European Union member countries came together with that killer tyrant, Sisi.
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"Long live hell for that tyrant!"
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"There Can Be No Such Thing As A Martyr Of Democracy"
"These [people] are weak enough to fear [even] the corpse of Morsi, who was the first elected president of Egypt. These [people] have no heart. Just as they have no heart, they sadly are in the same stance and attitude against us. However we are going to stand tall as Muslims. We will never give concessions from what we believe. We know [the Quranic verse]: 'Do not say that those who are killed in the path of Allah are dead. They are alive, but you won't understand, you won't know.' We know that [Morsi] is one of the martyrs right now. Though, from time to time, people are using this kind of expression: 'Martyr of democracy. My dear brothers and sisters, there is no such thing. There can be no such thing as a martyr of democracy. And here, Morsi has such a quality as being Egypt's first democratically elected president. But they, the West, could not tolerate this. And until now, have you heard anything? You haven't. You won't easily hear anything. Today, thanks to our Ministry of Religious Affairs having arranged for in-absentia funeral prayers to be performed all over Turkey, we are in [a state of] spiritual joy at having carried out a duty as Muslims."
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"There Are Those Who Say Against Me Personally: 'Your Fate Will Be Like Morsi, Too'"
"Do not forget: There are Sisis in this country too. There are those like him. For this reason, we must be very careful.
"Remember, there are those who say against me personally: 'Your fate will be like Morsi, too.'
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"Of course, these people still could not understand one thing. They could not understand martyrdom. If they understood it, they would not say these things."
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Man: "Down with the rule of the military!"
Crowd: "Down with the rule of the military!"
Man: "Down with the rule of the military!"
Crowd: "Down with the rule of the military!"
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"The Quran Is Our Constitution! Jihad Is Our Path!"
Man: "Allah is our goal!"
Crowd: "Allah is our goal!"
Man: "The prophet is our role model!"
Crowd: "The prophet is our role model!"
Man: "The Quran is our constitution!"
Crowd: "The Quran is our constitution!"
Man: "Jihad is our path!"
Crowd: "Jihad is our path!"
Man: "And death for the sake of Allah is our loftiest aspiration!"
Crowd: "And death for the sake of Allah is our loftiest aspiration!"
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Man: "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews!"
Crowd: "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews!"
Man: "The Army of Muhammad will return!"
Crowd: "The Army of Muhammad will return!"
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Crowd: "Oh Rebels, oh freemen, we will complete the journey! Oh Rebels, oh freemen, we will complete the journey! Oh Rebels, oh freemen, we will complete the journey!"
