Egypt Scraps Navy Drill with Ankara after Turkish, Egyptian Ambassadors Recalled

Cairo has cancelled naval exercises with Turkey scheduled to take place in October to protest Ankara's "clear interference" in Egypt's domestic affairs, the foreign ministry said on Friday.

The measures were in "protest at the unacceptable Turkish statements and actions which represent a clear interference in Egypt's domestic affairs and stand against the will of the Egyptian people," the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Friday, Turkey denied it was meddling in Egyptian internal affairs after the two countries pulled out their respective ambassadors in a further deterioration of ties following the bloodbath in Cairo.

In tit-for-tat moves Thursday, Ankara and Cairo said they were recalling their envoys after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned what he called the "massacre" of peaceful protesters.

Erdogan, a supporter of former president Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement, had also infuriated the interim government in Cairo by terming his July ouster a military coup.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul rejected criticism that his country was interfering in the affairs of the Arab world's most populous nation, saying Ankara's messages should be seen as "friendly warning."

"All that happened is a shame for the Islamic and Arab world," Gul was quoted as saying by the private Dogan News Agency during a visit to Azerbaijan.

"(Egypt's) friends feel the pain. I feel the pain for each and every Egyptian who was killed," he added.

About 600 people were killed in the violence that erupted on Wednesday when security forces moved in to break up pro-Morsi protest camps, the worst unrest in the country since the 2011 uprising that unseated Hosni Mubarak.

Erdogan, who heads the ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), had forged a close alliance with Morsi since he was elected in Egypt's first free election in June 2012.

The Islamist leader was invited to the AKP's annual congress last September where Erdogan positioned Turkey as a regional standard-bearer and a model for the successful marriage between Islam and democracy.

Turkish leaders however hinted that they would not cut ties with the new leadership in Egypt after Morsi's ouster, despite their criticism of the army's action.

Analysts, however, said the bloody crackdown on demonstrators was a breaking point for Turkey, which would make it very hard for Erdogan's government to reconcile with the military regime in Egypt.

Turkey invested both politically and financially in Egypt after Morsi's election, aiming to bolster Ankara's influence and show that Turkey was not the only country where Islam and democracy could coexist.

Erdogan said his country served as a "very important reference" to Egypt on why military uprisings must not be tolerated.

Turkey's once powerful army, which has long considered itself as the self-appointed guardian of Turkish secularism, has staged four coups in half a century.

But during his 11 years in power, Erdogan has sought to clip the wings of the military, with trials of leading generals accused of plotting coups.

This week's unrest in Egypt is expected to hit around 260 Turkish businesses which operate there.

Turkish investment in Egypt amounts to nearly $2 billion (1.5 billion euros), mostly in the textile and clothing industries, while over 4,000 Turks are registered as living there.

Turkish biscuit manufacturer Yildiz Holding halted production in Egypt after a state of emergency was declared, and media reports said other businesses were likely to follow suit.

After arriving back in Turkey on Friday, the ambassador to Cairo Huseyin Avni Botsali said: "There is common will between the two countries so as not to harm trade relations... but everything depends on the situation of stability and security."

Botsali advised Turkish citizens in Egypt to refrain from inter-city trips and not to leave their homes or offices on "critical days".