On the Thirteenth Anniversary of July Coup 2013, Egypt Deserves Collective Efforts to Emerge from Its Crises
Today, 3 July, marks the anniversary of violating the will and freedom of the Egyptian people; the anniversary of the ominous military coup on the power of the first democratically elected civilian president.
This day comes at a time when Egypt is still paying the price for this historical sin from its people's freedom, security, dignity, and economy. This anniversary comes as the country is also still paying the price for this move from its renaissance, status, leadership, and influence on the causes of its nation.
In fact, that coup opened the door wide to political, economic, social, security and human rights crises, to the point that they became the hallmarks of a phase whose effects will extend from the present of the nation to its future.
This coup d’etat of July 2013 was not just a coup on the martyred President Mohamed Morsi and an attack on his legitimacy, however it was a coup on the path of a great popular revolution that impressed the world, where the Egyptian people breathed the air of freedom and dignity.
For the first time in his modern history, the Egyptian citizen felt that his homeland and his legitimate rights had been restored to him; that he has the right to choose his ruler within a framework of freedom, integrity, diversity, and fair competition in a unique democratic experience, and that he has the right to draft his own constitution without guardianship from anyone, and without supra-constitutional principles.
The 30 July coup was a shocking event that crushed the democratic experiment in Egypt and destroyed the people’s hopes for a free, constitutional, democratic, civil state, where it replaced the oppressive military machine with the free ballot box; used extreme political and security violence, and committed horrific massacres against peaceful demonstrators in various squares of freedom – from the Presidential Guard Club to the Manassa Memorial, the Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square, the Nahda Square, the Qaed Ibrahim Square, and the Ramses Square. The souls of thousands of martyrs ascended to heaven, thanks to this coup, and tens of thousands were arrested and tortured, including the elected president and his ministers, members of parliament, scholars, academics, and experts from the elite and the general public.
Today, after thirteen years marked by the removal of the popular will, abject failure in institutional management, the mortgaging of the nation's assets, severe economic hardship borne by the Egyptian people, the entrenchment of authoritarianism, the spread of fear, the practice of exclusion and repression, and the closure of the public sphere, the only outcome will be further failure and regression.
In this regard, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) stresses that Egypt – this major nation – deserves the dedicated efforts of every sincere patriot to rescue it. Such an endeavor requires a genuine national will, an inclusive dialogue, and a prudent political path that restores the Egyptian people’s rights, the state’s equilibrium, and the nation’s standing.
The MB declares its openness to any dialogue centered on political reform, driven by a commitment to its national role and the conviction that the Egyptian people deserve to live in freedom, dignity, and security within a state governed by the rule of law – a state that protects their rights and commands their pride, one they would willingly defend with their lives and which, in turn, safeguards them, allowing them to hold their heads high among nations and take pride in belonging to it.
Long live Egypt as a free, secure, and stable nation – and long live its people, free.
Dr. Salah Abdel Haq
Acting General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood
(Friday, 11 Muharram 1448 AH, 26 June 2026 AD)