UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council failed on Saturday to condemn the violence and unrest in Turkey after Egypt objected to a statement that called on all parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey," diplomats said.
The U.S.-drafted statement, seen by Reuters, also expressed grave concern over the situation in Turkey, urged the parties to show restraint, avoid any violence or bloodshed, and called for an urgent end to the crisis and return to rule of law.
Statements by the 15-member Security council have to be agreed by consensus.
"We proposed different language that respects democratic and constitutional principles but the Americans refused to engage," Egypt's U.N. Ambassador Amr Aboulatta told Reuters.
Diplomats said Egypt asked for a call for all parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey" to be removed from the draft statement, saying the council is "in no position to qualify, or label that government — or any other government for that matter — as democratically elected or not."
After the United States and Britain objected to the proposed change to the text, Egypt proposed that the council call on the parties in Turkey to "respect the democratic and constitutional principles and the rule of law," diplomats said.
Negotiations on the text ended at this point, diplomats said.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that it was "surprised that its proposed amendment was not taken up, and with the claim that it is obstructing the release of the statement."
Turkish forces loyal to President Tayyip Erdogan largely crushed an attempted military coup on Saturday after crowds answered his call to take to the streets in support of the government and dozens of rebels abandoned their tanks.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is a former general who overthrew elected President Mohamed Mursi, of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, in 2013 after mass protests against Mursi. Turkey provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
