Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Photo: wiki commons.

Turkey does not accept the removal and detention of elected leaders from power through “illegitimate means,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Friday, according to Hurriyet Daily News. Davutoğlu added that he hoped the military’s removal of the country’s leadership would not overshadow the original Jan. 25, 2011 revolution.

“Whatever the reason is, it is unacceptable that a democratically elected government was overthrown by illegitimate means, even more so, by  a military coup. A national consensus in politics is possible only with the participation and support of democratic institutions, actors, opposition and civil society,” Davutoğlu told reporters in Istanbul.

“Leaders who come to power with open and transparent elections reflecting the will of the people can only be removed by elections, that is, the will of the nation,” Davutoğlu said.

The comments from Istanbul come after Egypt’s former president Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected leader, was put in detention by the country’s army, which has also issued warrants for the arrest of  300 other officials of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, Hurriyet reports.

Davutoğlu said that he had spoken to his Egyptian counterpart, Mohammed Kamel Amr, Friday and that he had also spoken to his U.S., German, French, British and Qatari counterparts earlier in the week.

“All democratic mechanisms should be operated…  After yesterday’s intervention, the arbitrary arrests or house arrests of politicians, including President Mohamed Morsi and Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, are unacceptable. Freeing the detained politicians has special importance for national reconciliation,” Davutoğlu said.

“This intervention should not overshadow the democratic gains of the Jan. 25 revolution,” Davutoğlu said, warning that an interruption of the democratic process would represent a loss for all Egyptian people.

“Our message is clear: The Jan. 25 revolution was the first big revolution of the 21st century. Protecting the gains of this revolution should be the priority of the Egyptian people. We totally reject the assessments that the ‘Arab Spring’ has turned into an ‘Arab Winter,’ or that Muslims cannot be governed by democracy,” he said.

“The powers of Egypt’s elected authorities should immediately be reinstated and a chaotic environment should be avoided,” Davutoğlu said.  He called for a quick return to democracy through elections.