The weather was too hot. That day, Cairo had been captive to the hot wind and torrifying sun. The political crisis in the country was increasing the heat even more.
The Minister of Defense, Abdülfettah Sisi, made the expected announcement on the Egyptian TV channels; “The administration of President Mohammed Morsi had come to an end.”
That day, the streets of Cairo started burning, not due to the heat, but due to Sisi's above statement. Tanks and armored brigades poured into the streets. Rabia square, which will become known by the whole world in the future, had been surrounded. The spokesman of the military, Mohammed Ali, said, “Our military has the duty to protect the lives of the Egyptian community,” and announced that they won't be entering the square. Nobody believed him, not even himself.
That day, the first real election right of the community, for the first time after 3,000 years, had been taken off their hands by the coup of a general.
President Morsi had been taken into custody at 21:00 o'clock on July 3, 2013, by the police forces that had the duty to protect him. He was wearing a grey suite and navy-blue tie. He had a mild smile on his face, and he was paying attention to keeping his head up. People around him were more stressed and worried than he was.
They were taken to an unknown place. Great anxiety ensued about the safety of people's lives, demonstrations in the Rabia square increased; one million people chanted “Morsi, Morsi” at the same time.
Nothing changed. Like a staff officer, Sisi did everything he planned. All this happened in front of the eyes of the world. An elected President had been taken into custody by a general; this general overthrew the government, established a new technocrat government, assigned a temporary President and the whole world watched all this happen.
On July 3, 2013, the whole world witnessed as democracy, human rights and justice had been buried in the burning Cairo streets. On August 14, 2013, humanity was going to witness the Egyptian community being shot by the Egyptian Army, who entered Rabia square with their tanks and armed vehicles. The entire Islamic world watched the live broadcast of a Mosque in the square, full of people, being burned with the people inside of it, and they, too, felt the shame of watching something they will never forget in their entire life.
On July 3rd, the stream of the Egyptian history, the fate of the Arab Spring, the unity of the Islamic world and the apostolate of the Western democracy had turned into something else. Saudi Arabia was the first country that welcomed Sisi's coup with pleasure. They presented this pleasure by giving 20 Billion Dollars to Sisi. Thus, the Islamic world received one of its biggest wounds.
No country, no force, no conscious President in the world managed to prevent an elected President of a country from being overthrown by a general on July 3, 2013. There had been no one, aside from Turkey and Qatar, that raised their voice and objected to it.
Now, today, in other words, during the 2 years since then, the shame of the Islamic world increased further and the calamities around it multiplied. Shamelessly and firmly, the West welcomed Sisi, the killer of children, youngsters and democracy, in their own country with a red carpet.
Today, we are still hopeless. Morsi and his friends had been imprisoned for execution and, today, we can't do anything other than cry. However, when Seyyid Kutup was executed and Hasan El Benna was killed, we also felt this hopeless.
However, their work, ideas and movements enlightened the whole World of Islam, from Malaysia to Bosnia, and changed the fates of people and countries.
Maybe after years, the historians and thinkers will be writing articles about our desperation and cry; however, they will be noting that these days gave birth to the biggest fire and resistance of the future.
Today, July 3, 2015, Cairo streets are burning again. Despite the two years, it's still burning. One day, when we all die, when there are no more witnesses of these days, a legend will loiter between people;
“It all started on July 3, 2013, while the Cairo streets were burning. The fire, which changed the Islamic world and the oppression system in the world, started to burn that day. The name of the man who lit that fire was Morsi.”
