Hundreds of Brotherhood supporters mourn Egypt's Mursi in Turkey

Members of the Ankara crowd chanted: "Murderer Sisi, martyr Mursi" and held up banners reading "Putschists will be defeated," a reference to Mursi's overthrow.

By REUTERS
A POSTER of then-Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi reading ‘No substitute for the legitimacy’ is seen after night clashes with anti-Mursi forces in Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, on July 3, 2013. (photo credit: REUTERS)
A POSTER of then-Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi reading ‘No substitute for the legitimacy’ is seen after night clashes with anti-Mursi forces in Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, on July 3, 2013.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters took to the streets of Turkey's capital and Istanbul on Tuesday, mourning former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi and some chanting slogans blaming Cairo authorities for his death.
Mursi - a leading member of the Islamist group which is now banned in Egypt - died on Monday after collapsing in a Cairo court while on trial on espionage charges, authorities and a medical source said.
The 67-year-old had been in jail since the army commanded by Egypt's now president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi toppled him in 2013 after barely a year in power following mass protests against his rule.
About 500 people in Ankara prayed in a central street halting traffic outside the Egyptian Embassy - in sharp contrast to central Cairo on Tuesday morning, where there were no signs of protests. Egypt has cracked down on Islamist groups since Mursi's ouster.
Members of the Ankara crowd chanted: "Murderer Sisi, martyr Mursi" and held up banners reading "Putschists will be defeated," a reference to Mursi's overthrow.
Another several hundred people also attended a symbolic funeral in Istanbul's conservative district of Fatih, holding pictures of Mursi and chanting "God is Greatest."
Rights groups have called for an investigation into Mursi's death and raised questions about his treatment in prison. Egypt's government has dismissed accusations that he was badly treated.
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, a supporter of Mursi, called him a martyr on Monday. Muslim leaders said they would hold symbolic funerals for Mursi across Turkey's 81 provinces.
Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party had supported Mursi’s short-lived Egyptian government, and many Brotherhood members and supporters have fled Turkey since its activities were banned in Egypt.
The Brotherhood says it is a non-violent movement and denies any relationship to violent insurgencies waged by al Qaeda and Islamic State militants.