Erdogan blasts Egypt's 'putschist president' Sisi in al-Jazeera interview

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blasted Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, calling him a "putschist" that has killed thousands of his own people.

Erdogan made the scathing remarks during an extended interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday in the wake of last week's failed coup attempt in Turkey.

"Sisi is a putschist just the same as the coup plotters in Turkey because he led the military coup against Mohamed Morsi – the president elected by the people – while he was Morsi's minister of defence," Erdogan said.

"How can we respect Sisi when he has killed thousands of his own people? This man has nothing to do with democracy."

Erdogan also addressed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, calling him a "murderer".

"[Assad] has killed 600,000 people until now in Syria and he is continuing to perpetrate his crimes."

During the wide-ranging 37 minute interview, Erdogan said that Turkish democracy was not under threat, but said there could be more arrests in the wake of the failed coup attempt.

Egyptian-Turkish relations have been tense since Islamist Mohamed Morsi was ousted by then army general Sisi in 2013.

	Sisi came to power through a military coup in 2013 [Getty]

Erdogan's comments came moments ahead of announcing a three-month state of emergency.

The Egyptian foreign ministry issued a statement on Thursday in response to the harsh criticism of Sisi.

"The [Turkish] president continues to confuse issues and to lose his sense of judgement, which reflects the difficult circumstances he is going through," it read.

"Among the issues which the Turkish president confuses the most is the ability to differentiate between a full-fledged popular revolution where over 30 million Egyptians went out calling for the army's support, and a military coup."

Egyptian-Turkish relations have been tense since Islamist Mohamed Morsi was ousted by then army general Sisi in 2013.

Erdogan is a main backer of Morsi and has denounced the move as a "coup," angering the Egyptian regime.

Several Brotherhood leaders are in exile in Turkey, having fled a bloody crackdown against Islamists following Morsi's overthrow.

On Sunday, Turkey's foreign ministry hit back at Egypt's decision to block a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the failed coup attempt in Turkey.