Egypt decided Saturday, November 23 to expel Turkish Ambassador Huseyin Avni Botsali after remarks made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Cairo deemed as being "provocative," the foreign ministry said, according to AFP.

Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty said Cairo took three decisions on Saturday concerning its diplomatic ties with Ankara.

"First to expel the Turkish ambassador and downgrade our ties to the level of charge d'affaires, second to declare the Turkish ambassador persona non grata and third we will not send our ambassador to Turkey," Abdelatty told AFP.

He said the decisions were taken after Erdogan made remarks in Russia on Thursday that were "provocative and interfering in Egypt's internal affairs."

The Turkish premier condemned an August 14 crackdown by Egyptian security forces on supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in Cairo.