The Revolution of June 30, 2013 is a milestone in the modern history of Egypt because it was expressive of a massive popular will to end the one-year rule of a political Islamist group, which had been in disguise for many years.
The Muslim Brotherhood had presented itself in society as a group basically engaged in philanthropic social work and concerned with religious matters. Until the January 2011 Revolution, the group’s avid desire to be directly involved in politics, geared to power, was not quite evident for mainstream society.
The Muslim Brothers realised that the popular uprising of 2011 was their long-awaited chance to step right into the vehement political landscape to gradually impose their agenda.
So, after Mohamed Morsi, who was hailed from the group, was elected as president in 2012, the bare truth about the nature and political ambitions of the MB started to unfold. The group’s malpractices during their one-year rule showed how they were working on changing the culture and identity of society, not to mention their strong attempts to plant their elements in influential state positions. Last but not least Morsi’s Constitutional Declaration with which he gave his laws and decrees immunity from judicial review was an eye opener to the group’s pursuit of absolute power.
Growing public anger was coupled with calls for Morsi to hold early presidential elections to undo the harm in a democratic way. But Morsi and his group were of course so blinded by power ecstasy to perceive the upcoming tsunami. The army acted quickly to support the public, eventually bringing Morsi down.
The violence carried out and orchestrated by the MB and its offshoots following the ousting of Mohamed Morsi was another nail in the coffin of the group.
The terror, which they spread across the country, was so bitter and painful for the Egyptians; but it gave one proof after another that the group should be banished from society.
The June 30 Revolution is not just a turning point for Egypt, but for the region as well. It actually destroyed a scheme fantasised by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to revive an Islamic Caliphate, which the MB would have helped to start in Cairo.
Oddly enough eight years after the revolution, runaway MB elements who found refuge in Turkey were now seeking to relocate given Turkey’s recent change of heart towards Egypt. Ankara has given direct orders to these elements to stop their anti-Egypt media campaigns in an attempt on Turkey’s part to make amends with Egypt.
The prompt rise and fall of political Islam in Egypt from 2011-2013, associated with an ensuing spread of terror in the Middle East and in western cities, also gave the West an insight into the threat posed by so called “moderate political Islamists” to their own societies.
The post June 30 Egyptian state has been knocking down barriers built by Islamist and extremist groups, which prevented the West in general from seeing the true image of Islam. Most importantly, the state is working hard to help the Egyptians rediscover themselves away from the cultural and religious misconceptions sowed throughout the years by the MB and their likes.
