CAIRO, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Egypt said Saturday it had expelled the Turkish ambassador after months of tension over the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.
In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry blamed Turkey for the action, saying "it holds the Turkish government responsible for taking ties between the two nations so far [that it] required such procedures to be taken," Ahram Online reported.
The ministry said Turkey had made statements "aimed to incite the international community against the interests of Egypt."
Turkey's president, Abdullah Gul, responded that he hoped relations between the countries "will again get back to its track," the Istanbul newspaper Today's Zaman reported.
Speaking on live television, Gul said he hoped the situation was "temporary."
A spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said "we will respond with reciprocal steps in coming hours."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an ally of the Islamist Morsi, was critical of Morsi's removal, and has repeatedly blasted Egypt's interim government for its crackdown on Islamists.
