[JURIST] An Egyptian court on Saturday set February 24 as the date that it will consider a lawsuit that claims Turkey is a “state that supports terrorism” and must be designated as such. The lawsuit claims that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan [BBC profile] supported the Muslim Brotherhood [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and criticized Egypt after Mohammed Morsi [BBC profile] was ousted in July 2013. The Brotherhood, which Morsi was a supporter of, was designated a terrorist organization in December 2013 following the takeover by Abdul Fattah al-Sisi [BBC profile]. The lawsuit also claims that Turkey was the main source in which terrorists have acquired weapons in Egypt. A judicial source has quoted [World Bulletin report] the lawsuit as stating, “Turkey adopts hostile stances against Egypt after it became a haven for Muslim Brotherhood leaders who face criminal charges in Egypt.”

Egypt continues to persecute Muslim Brotherhood supporters in wake of the al-Sisi takeover in 2013. Last week the country’s top appeals court upheld a death sentence [JURIST report] against an Islamist charged with murder as well as sentences for 57 other supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. Also last week a court confirmed death sentences [JURIST report] for 183 supporters of the Brotherhood and ousted president Morsi. Last month the Cairo Appeals Court for Urgent Matters banned and declared [JURIST report] Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (Qassam Brigades) to be a terrorist group. Qassam Brigades is the armed branch of Hamas, which is itself an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. In December an Egyptian court convicted [JURIST report] 40 supporters of former president Morsi for committing violence last year in the wake of Morsi’s ousting by the Egyptian military.