(MENAFN- Arab Times) Turkey's presidential spokesman said on Monday the Middle East would be thrown into turmoil if Egypt carried out its death sentences on former president Mohamed Morsi and other senior Islamists. An Egyptian court on Sunday sought the death penalty for Morsi and 106 supporters of his Muslim Brotherhood, in connection with a mass jail-break in 2011. A final ruling is expected on June 2. Ibrahim Kalin told a news conference in Ankara the sentences were a "breach of justice" and called on the international community to speak out more strongly against them. "The subject demands universal attention.

The execution orders and carrying them out will push the Middle East into turmoil," he said. Turkey would work with the UN Human Rights Commission following the sentences, and take "all necessary steps", he added. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is a vocal supporter of Morsi, Egypt's first democratically-elected president, and relations with Egypt have soured since he was forced from power by the army in 2013.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern on Monday at an Egyptian court decision to seek the death penalty for Morsi, a spokesman for the United Nations said. "The secretary-general notes with serious concern the sentence of death issued by the Egyptian Criminal Court against former president Mohamed Morsi and 105 others," UN spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters. "(Ban) understands that the verdict is still subject to an appeal.

He will continue to monitor the process very closely," he said, adding that he "underscores the importance of all parties taking steps to promote - and avoiding those that could further undermine - peace, stability and the rule of law." The United States and Europe expressed alarm Sunday at death sentences for Morsi and dozens of others, a verdict experts called a declaration of "total war" on his Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi was among more than 100 defendants given the death penalty Saturday for their role in a mass jailbreak during the 2011 uprising. He ruled for only a year before huge protests spurred then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to overthrow him in July 2013. Sisi won a presidential election in May 2014 backed by Egyptians tired of political turmoil in the world's most populous Arab nation following the 2011 revolt against longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Washington expressed concern over Saturday's verdict, saying it has "consistently spoken out against the practice of mass trials and sentences". "We continue to stress the need for due process and individualised judicial processes for all Egyptians in the interests of justice," a State Department official said.