Turkey's Erdogan to push for trial of Egyptian government over Morsi's death

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed to make an effort to ensure the Egyptian government is tried in international courts for the death of former president Mohamed Morsi, who suffered a fatal heart attack in a Cairo court earlier this week.

Speaking at an election rally in Istanbul, Erdogan said Morsi "did not die, he was murdered," and called on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to act on Morsi`s death. He added he will raise the issue at the G-20 summit in Japan at the end of the month. 

Erdogan forged close ties with Morsi, Egypt's first civilian president and a prominent Muslim Brotherhood member.

But Ankara's relations with Cairo ties deteriorated after the Egyptian military, then led by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, ousted Morsi in 2013. Sisi then became president.

Erdogan has sharply denounced the military takeover in Egypt and called it a "coup".

On Wednesday, he said he would follow up on the process related to Morsi's death.

"We will do whatever is needed for Egypt to be tried in international courts."

The attorney general's office in Egypt has said that Morsi was "transported immediately to the hospital", where medics pronounced him dead -- a version confirmed by a judicial source.

Morsi was buried on Tuesday, as rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called for an independent probe into the causes of his death.

Erdogan on Tuesday joined in prayer at an Istanbul mosque for the former Egyptian leader.