Turkey's presidential spokesman said on Monday, May 18, that the Middle East would be thrown into turmoil if death sentences handed down in Egypt to former president Mohammed Morsi and other senior Islamist figures were carried out.

Ibrahim Kalin told a news conference in Ankara that Turkey would work with the UN Human Rights Commission following the sentences, and take "all necessary steps". Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is a vocal supporter of Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood.