(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday criticised Egypt's military rulers for having Interpol issue an arrest warrant for a renowned Muslim scholar.
Islamist scholar Sheikh Youssef Al Qaradawi is a strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood. He regularly criticise Egypt's authorities since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July last year.
Egypt had approached Interpol seeking Qaradawi's arrest and in November Interpol put him on its wanted list.
"Look, a person who came to power through a coup is giving instructions to Interpol," Erdogan told a religious council in Ankara.
"A step is being taken for arrest of Youssef Al Qaradawi, president of the Union of Muslim Scholars," he said.
"What kind of a business is this? Science cannot be at the disposal of politics. Politics is the servant of science," he added.
"Things have turned upside down. All of these developments show the world is unfortunately going not for the good but for the bad."
Qaradawi, 88, is named as a defendant in several trials along with many Muslim Brotherhood members, including one which has Mursi as a co-defendant.
Turkey is one of the staunchest supporters of the brotherhood, with Erdogan calling Mursi's removal from power a coup.
Meanwhile, Egypt's prosecutor general yesterday referred to trial 71 students of the prestigious Al Azhar University on charges of joining the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and holding illegal protests, a judicial official said.
Hundreds of students have been tried in civilian courts after violence on campuses, bastions of pro-Islamist activists since the army's overthrow of president Mohamed Mursi in July 2013.
The students from Al Azhar, the highest seat of learning in Sunni Islam, indicted yesterday were arrested in separate clashes with security forces since the October start of the new academic year, the official said.
They are being charged with taking part in unauthorised protests, rioting, assaulting security forces and joining the Muslim Brotherhood, which Cairo has branded a "terrorist group", the official added.
The authorities have enforced new regulations to limit student protests on campuses calling for Mursi's re-instatement, many of which degenerate into clashes with security forces.
In November, five university students were referred to military trial for allegedly torching a university building during a pro-Morsi protest.
The measure was applied under a law passed in October expanding the army's powers to try civilians.
At least 14 students were killed on campuses in the last academic year in clashes with security forces, while one student has been killed since October.
A government crackdown on Mursi supporters since the army ousted him has resulted in at least 1,400 people dead and thousands jailed. Several leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, including Mursi, are themselves on trial in cases which carry the death penalty if convicted.
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