In Wednesday’s newspapers, op-eds were focused on the military operation Sinai 2018, the “enemies” of the state, and comments on Recep Tayyip Erdogan in light of escalation in the Aegean Sea.
In state-owned daily Al-Ahram, Sherif Abdeen wrote that while the military is bravely fighting and making sacrifices in Sinai to put an end to terrorism, the “brotherhood of the devil” of which members are widespread into the society take out their hatred on the country, stating that the most dangerous supporters of the group are those who know the reality that their former president Mohamed Morsi will not return and as a result are desperately trying to make any gains, even if it would mean publicly supporting the regime but acting on a different agenda.
In the same context, writer Amr Abdel Samie wrote that there must be “fighters” against inciteful domestic and foreign campaigns targeting the Egyptian military in the media based on “planned lies,” giving an example of an opposition figure he did not name who was speaking from New York to Russia Today and who, according to the writer, was exposed by the president of the Cairo-based Middle East News Agency (MENA).
As for journalist Hany Assal, he wrote that much of local media and public figures are failing to mobilise audiences to be aligned with the military, as he criticised all those who spoke of anything but the operation in Sinai, also picking on foreign media which continues to use words like “radicals” and “rebels” on claims that “terrorism” is not objective.
In Akhbar Al-Youm state daily, op-eds went in the same direction. Mohamed Barakat wrote that the military’s “sacred war” in Sinai has driven some media platforms to hysteria, especially those controlled by fugitives MB members in Turkey and Qatar. Mohamed Hassan Al-Banna wrote: “we are waiting for an official list announcing the traitors and conspiring states…and exposing the plans of Erdogan to spread chaos in Egypt.”
This comes as a column titled “Erdoganish thuggery” by Mohamed Hawary argued that unlike what the Turkish president might think, Egypt is capable of protecting its interests, criticising his “dictatorship” and “crackdown on his political opponents.”
Al-Ahram’s Ahmed Abdel Tawab said that although Erdogan’s move against Eni seemed calculated from his point of view, it seems that he is isolating himself and seeking to make small economic gains for the Turks in Cyprus and will be faced by the EU and the company’s economic, political, legal, and media wings.
Another piece criticising Erdogan was published in the privately-owned Al-Watan newspaper. Writer Mohamed Al-Badry argued that Erdogan is facing considerable economic challenges and that his dream for “a caliphate” has failed after the Islamists’ power in Egypt was crushed on 30 June. “Erdogan will continue to escalate against Egypt, but his shock will become greater when he finds out that he is dealing with a regime that cares about state sovereignty more than he cares about his so-called caliphate,” the writer said.
Last but not least, chairperson of Al-Masry Al-Youm Mohamed Al-Amin commented on the arrest of former chief auditor Hisham Geneina, saying that unlike his previous prosecution when he talked about the amount of corruption in state institutions, this time, “one cannot feel compassion for him.” Al-Amin criticised Geneina’s statements on secret documents incriminating the military that were smuggled out of the country, saying it could not be considered a right to freedom of speech.
