Obama to address deteriorating situation in Egypt

8/15/2013

CHILMARK, Mass. — President Obama will make his first statement on the rapidly deteriorating situation in Egypt today.

Obama will speak to reporters from Martha’s Vineyard, the Massachusetts island where he is on a weeklong vacation.

More than 500 people have died in Egypt since Wednesday in clashes between the military-backed interim government and supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. The violence prompted the government to declare a nationwide state of emergency and a nighttime curfew.

The U.S. has not declared Morsi’s ouster a coup, a move that would require the Obama administration to suspend $1.3 billion in annual military aid.