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Home / “Egyptian revolution was a turning point,” says ambassador
“Egyptian revolution was a turning point,” says ambassador
2015-07-30Staff Report 2 Windhoek The Ambassador of Egypt to Namibia, Mahmoud F. Abou Dounya, says the Egyptian revolution of 1952 “was a turning point in the history of Egypt, Africa, and the Middle East, and proved to be a catalyst for several African liberation movements. He spoke at a reception in Windhoek on Tuesday to mark the 63rd anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution attended by various diplomats and the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Peya Mushelenga, among other prominent figures. “That revolution was a turning point in the history of Egypt, Africa and the Middle East. It enabled Egypt to become a leading pioneer in assisting freedom movements in Africa, including Namibia and other parts of the world to achieve independence from colonial powers,” said the Egyptian ambassador. Regarding the Tahrir Square uprisings of 2011 and 2013, referred to as the June Revolution, that saw Hosni Mubarak and Mohammed Morsi toppled in successive popular uprisings, Dounya said Egyptians “revolted and overthrew a corrupt and aging regime, but without prior notice found itself facing an arrogant, fanatic and deceitful regime that incited hatred and discrimination among all Egyptians and undermined the interests of the people and the State.” “So, it was inevitable to revolt once again on 30 June 2013, after just 11 months of having installed that [Morsi] regime, a regime that strived to steal and destroy our dream for a better future and true democracy,” Dounya explained. On the overthrow of Morsi in a popular uprising, involving some 30 million people, he said: Egyptians “… discovered that this group are mere traders of religion and do not apply the true and noble teachings of Islam.” “Thus the Egyptian people corrected the path of their revolution and shall never allow any deviation from that route in future,” the Egyptian ambassador stated. Dounya was also keen to reiterate that Egypt was among the first states that established diplomatic relations with independent Namibia in 1990. Since 1990, Egypt has remained a bilateral partner and assistance provider to Namibia, as it has offered technical assistance to Namibia through the Egyptian Fund for Africa and seconded Egyptian experts in various developmental fields. On agreements signed between Namibia and Egypt he “found that the majority of the agreements signed between the two countries over the past 25 years have lapsed and attempts to renew them or to negotiate fresh ones were either few, scattered, ineffective or aborted, because of different reasons and circumstances.” On a positive note, he said Mushelenga has promised to facilitate the efforts of the Egyptian Embassy to restore the legal status of the lapsed bilateral treaties. Dounya also mentioned the successful visit of President Hage Geingob to Sharm el Sheikh last month, where he attended the African Tripartite Summit (COMESA, SADC and EAC) and signed with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi the declaration of the Free Trade Zone across the three regional economic blocs. Meanwhile, Dounya says the creation of a parallel waterway to the Suez Canal in a massive venture, involving over 43,000 workers, will see the Suez Canal Authority increase its revenue from US$5,3 billion to US$13,3 billion by 2023. “The entire Suez Canal Zone will eventually be built out into a fully developed economic landscape, supporting multiple skills-led industries, providing an additional one million jobs for Egyptians,” once the project opens next month, Ambassador Dounya revealed. 2015-07-30Staff Report 2
