By Vestnik Kavkaza
Last week, in Egypt hostilities resumed between "Muslim Brotherhood" and the police; there are 15 killed policemen. Egyptian military secured the strategic facilities in the country. The unrest in Egypt has not affected resort cities yet; no more than a dozen Russians wanted to leave Egyptian resorts.
“Federal Tourism Agency, in accordance with the regulations, made a newsletter, in which it appealed to Russian tourists, tour operators and travel agents with a request to take precautions during their stay in Egypt”, Eugene Pisarevsky, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism, said. “First of all, Russian tourists and tour operators are recommended to suspend any promotion and implementation of tourist products in Egypt. We very much hoped that the situation would develop in a positive scenario, because we understand how important it is this season for Russian tour operators, who are in a very difficult situation, and, of course, we hoped that we won't need to make a decision on these recommendations. It should be understood that protection of Russian citizens abroad as a prerogative of the government, for especially the Foreign Ministry, the Federal Tourism Agency and Public Health Agency, is a priority. The decision was made. We recommended, I repeat, to suspend the implementation of tours until the situation in Egypt is normalized. Many Russian citizens, especially from the regions, take great pleasure in spending their holidays at quite affordable prices there”.
“Tour operators, of course, are law-abiding organizations. Therefore, having received the information about the letter, they began adjusting their plans connected to Egypt”, Maya Lomidze, executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, said. “The curfew was lifted in Sharm el-Sheikh. However, the tourist industry is going to follow the recommendations set out in the letter of the Federal Tourism Agency fully and promptly”.
Heydar Jemal, Chairman of the Islamic Committee of Russia, commented on the events in Egypt for VK.
How did it happen that the situation in Egypt has deteriorated suddenly, and what is the role of Turkey?
Turkey supports the "Muslim Brotherhood" of course, because Erdogan and the Muslim Brotherhood have a common problem - the confrontation with the army, which has been brought up by the Americans, which is their resource in the country. It is only natural that Erdogan will support them. And not only Erdogan. Little by little, in spite of the change of regime, or rather not regime but that change of the ruling person in Qatar, Qatar still continues to support, although not directly, the Muslim Brotherhood. Because the opposition is very expensive. If only to ensure, for example, on a scale of $10 food and tents for one person, to keep a million people for a day, and in public rallies there are $10 million a day, and in a month it is $300 million. It's a lot of money. That is only in order to support the people on the street. In fact, from the very beginning it was clear that there would be civil war in Egypt. All the talk that the Muslim Brotherhood is not adapted for this purpose, that they used to be passive, to ensure that they were forced, stamped etc. - it's all bullshit that comes from totally incorrect presuppositions and misunderstanding. Today the Muslim Brotherhood is headed by new people, 300-400 new politicians appeared to be much stronger and more radical than the old conformist leadership that the military had "cleared", thereby unwittingly supporting the radicals, the younger generation, because the older well-known significant figures have been detained and arrested. It is clear that the current generation of the Muslim Brotherhood, which, thanks to Morsi during the year had a taste of power, they will not allow the military to take advantage quietly. The Military realize that they have committed a faux pas, they have sagged. Although they are not subjected to direct condemnation, Obama has given a clear indication that he does not support, and considers the military coup inappropriate. And al-Sisi has a feeling of failure. The Egyptian military got nervous and went for an action that has led it directly to the Hague Tribunal. The massacre of 2,500 people, 10,000 injured, the burning of a six-storey hospital building sheltering the wounded, plus a few more rooms of a mosque adjoining, were filled with the wounded and the dead bodies there were moved there. This conscious act of barbarism committed by the military, it is leading the Egyptian military into isolation. I think that every blood spilled, each Muslim brother killed by army forces on the street, in a confrontation, enhances the confrontation.
In your opinion, can the unrest in Egypt destabilize the situation in the Caucasus?
I think it does not directly affect the situation in the Caucasus in the near future, but to the extent that the civil war will cover all of the wider region, it will have an impact. The way in which, for example, in Syria a lot of Caucasians are fighting today. But the situation in the Caucasus is not affected. But a big civil war will change the balance of power in the Islamic world, it will change the Muslim Brotherhood itself, which will become the vanguard of a very tough and advanced political Islam. The problem of the Muslim Brotherhood was that they were not a political force, they were not a political party, they were more like Opus Dei or the Salvation Army, because they engaged in charity work and support for the poorest. They worked with the public, educational programs, and programs to support charity. This demobilized them as a political force. And today, they forcibly enter, they are thrown into an icy cold scary world in which they will have to fight tooth and nail for their survival.
Should Russian tourists leave Egypt?
If a Russian tourist wants to take part in the most interesting events that may occur in his lifetime, it is not worth it. If he wants to swim in the Red Sea, probably he can. Because the risk of meeting with the sharks does not justify those costs that he may incur when he is forgotten and neglected by the local tourist attendants. Because, most likely, everybody will be involved in the confrontation, including waiters, head waiters, etc.
