Ahmet Davutoglu. Photo: Wiki Commons

Turkey still considers recently ousted Islamist Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi to be the legitimate president of Egypt, the country’s foreign minister told a Turkish news channel on Monday.

“For us, Morsi is still in office,” Ahmet Davutoğlu told private broadcaster NTV today, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

The foreign minister added that in case of the marginalization of political elements after the coup in Egypt, violence could spiral out of control across the whole of the Middle East.

On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Today’s Zaman he considered Morsi to be the rightful leader of Egypt. “Currently, my president in Egypt is Morsi because he was elected by the people,” he said.

Morsi was ousted in a military coup on July 3rd, after popular demonstrations against him rapidly spread throughout the country.