According to the article 152 Egyptian constitution, the president of a country has the right to declare war or send an army for operations outside the national territory only after consultation with the Council of National Defense and the approval of the House of Representatives by a two-thirds majority of its members. Therefore, a secret meeting was held in Cairo today. MPs' phones were turned off.. The most important issue of intervention in the Libyan conflict was resolved.
Hints and rumors about this for a long time spread from different offices at different levels.. Finally, it was necessary to somehow respond to Turkey's actions in Tripoli. Earlier Monday, Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi discussed the situation in Libya with US President Donald Trump by phone.. And before that, the head of the Arab Republic held a meeting with the leaders of the Libyan tribes. And they also asked him to intervene.
The request was heard
For some reason, the result of the vote in parliament is not surprising - a unanimous “yes”. This was confirmed by the Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Tarek al-Kuli., and then it was reported by the Egyptian state television.
Judging by the reaction of social networks, "street" enthusiastically supported the decision. Officially, the troops were allowed to participate in hostilities abroad "to protect the national security of Egypt in the western strategic direction from the actions of armed criminal groups and foreign terrorist elements".
Need to say, that Cairo has many reasons to worry - we are talking about the situation in a neighboring country, on the border with which the worst enemies of Egypt are about to dig in, who have repeatedly threatened the Egyptians with reprisal. These are pro-Turkish mercenaries from Syrian groups and followers of the Muslim Brotherhood banned in Russia1, of which there are plenty in Egypt itself. So the threat is getting bigger..
The House of Representatives emphasized, that the Egyptian nation throughout its history has called for peace, but she will not allow infringement of her rights and is able to stand up for herself and the interests of her neighbors. In this way, in Egypt, they are no less confident in the legitimacy of their actions, than the Government of National Accord (PNS) and Türkiye in their.
Egyptian reaction
“Today’s decision by the Egyptian Parliament is the penultimate step before sending armed forces to Libya., - FAN chief editor of Realist Arabic told FAN, Candidate of Historical Sciences Amr Eldiib. Many events have taken place in recent weeks as a result of Turkey's actions in Libya. The most important of them, I would call Ankara's desire to take control of the Libyan city of Sirte..
“In Cairo they said many times, that the promotion of terrorist groups, related to Turkey, to this city - a red line. After that, we observed several important events. At first, Commander of the Libyan National Army, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar turned to Egypt for help in the fight against pro-Turkish terrorists and the GNA. Secondly, the Libyan parliament turned to the Egyptian army for help for the same reason. Then a delegation of sheikhs of the Libyan tribes arrived in Egypt and also called on Cairo to intervene. Finally, Egyptian parliament approves sending troops outside the state. All these steps are aimed at, to give the historic decision of Parliament as an internal, and international legitimacy".
"As for public opinion, then most Egyptians are in solidarity with their leaders. We know very well, that terrorist groups operate on the eastern borders of Egypt. We still face terrorist activity in the Sinai. Therefore, the Egyptian people understand and approve of any actions of the authorities., aimed at countering this danger.
Besides, important to emphasize, that the decision of Parliament does not yet mean, that the Egyptian army will indeed be transferred to Libya in the near future, because it's not that easy, as it seems. It is necessary to take into account the position of Algeria and Sudan, Italy and France. Looking back at Russia, and to the USA, and on NATO states.
Just imagine the war between the Turkish army (member of NATO) and the Egyptian army (a key country in the Middle East and North Africa). Which side will Moscow be on?? Who will the United States be with?? Besides, will NATO intervene on the side of Ankara? So all this is very difficult to implement.”.
Another opinion
“The decision of the Egyptian Parliament was taken in light of the threat to national security, which exists on the western borders and comes from Turkey's intervention in the Libyan conflict, - said the deputy chief editor of the Egyptian newspaper "Veto" Mustafa Barakat. - As is known, Ankara repeatedly violated arms embargo on Libya, and sent thousands of terrorist mercenaries from Syria into the country. This poses a danger to the countries of North Africa. Especially for Cairo, to which Turkey has been extremely hostile since the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood regime. Since the mid 2013 Ankara makes active efforts to undermine stability in Egypt. And the situation in Libya is no exception.”.
"I think, that this is just a preparatory step. Troops will be sent only if the Turks violate the red line, designated by our President. This is Sirte and al-Jufra. So far, al-Sisi has emphasized, that a political decision is a priority. So it all depends on Turkey - leave the decision of the Egyptian Parliament on paper or provoke a regional war, which will certainly cover the entire region. The position of the United States also remains suspicious. America throws unfounded accusations against Russia, Egypt, UAE and France, leaving out the real instigator of the conflict - Turkey. All this indicates the desire of the United States to push countries to a new bloody war..
1 Organization banned in Russia.
Author: Abbas Juma
