2013 Egyptian coup d'état
The 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat took place on 3 July 2013. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coalition to remove the democratically elected President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi from power and suspended the Egyptian constitution of 2012.[10] The move came after the military's ultimatum for the government to "resolve its differences" with protesters during widespread national protests. The military arrested Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders,[11] and declared Chief Justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adly Mansour as the interim president of Egypt. The announcement was followed by demonstrations and clashes between supporters and opponents of the move throughout Egypt.[12]
There were mixed international reactions to the events.[10][13] Most Arab leaders were generally supportive or neutral, with the exception of Qatar and Tunisia who strongly condemned the military's actions. The US avoided describing the action as a coup.[14] Other states either condemned or expressed concern over the removal of Morsi.[15] Due to the regulations of the African Union regarding the interruption of constitutional rule by a member state, Egypt was suspended from that union. There has also been debate in the media regarding the labeling of these events. It has been described by some global media outlets as a coup[16][17][18][19][20] or as a revolution.[24] Egyptian State media outlets mainly referred to the ousting as a revolution, and this term was also favoured by a majority of the Egyptian public.[10]
Ensuing protests in favour of Morsi were violently suppressed culminating with the dispersal and massacre of pro-Morsi sit-ins on 14 August 2013, amid ongoing unrest; journalists[25] and several hundred protestors were killed by police and military force. Muslim Brotherhood members claim 2,600 people were killed.[26] Human Rights Watch documented 904 deaths, describing it as crimes against humanity and "one of the world's largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history," while the government puts the figure at 624.[27][6]
The removal of Morsi from office by the coalition was a result of a coup d'état following protests, that were instigated by frustration with Morsi's year-long rule in which Egypt faced economic issues, energy shortages, lack of security, and diplomatic crises.[44] Some of the issues that might have caused the protests and lead to the later removal of Morsi include:
Planning[edit]
Leaked tapes from the summer of 2013 that were later verified by J. P. French Associates[57] recorded figures of the Egyptian military, including former General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, suggesting that the Egyptian military was involved in the mass-protests preceding Morsi's ouster.[55][58] In one of the leaked tapes, the generals are heard discussing rigging the legal case against Morsi, and in another, authorizing the withdrawal of a large sum of money for the army's use from the bank account of Tamarod, the ostensibly independent grassroots group that was organizing protests against President Morsi.[55][58] The tapes also suggest high-level collusion between the coup plotters and the Government of the United Arab Emirates as the money that was to be transferred from Tamarod's account into the army's account was provided by the UAE.[58] The tapes were first released on the Qatari-owned Egyptian Islamist channel Mekameleen, a fact that the Egyptian government says discredits the tapes as fakes.[58] American officials later confirmed that the United Arab Emirates was indeed providing financial support for the protests against Morsi that preceded the military coup.[59] There is also evidence on the support of the military coup plotters by the Egyptian economic elites.[60] Egypt's Interior Ministry was seen as most influential in the lead-up to the coup d’état as a revenge for powers lost during the Egyptian revolution of 2011 according to a Reuters analysis.[61]
Reactions[edit]
Domestic[edit]
Amid months of protests, and after his trial had started, Morsi said on 13 November that he was kidnapped by the military the day before his removal and that the move was treason.[179]
A poll by the Egyptian Centre for Public Opinion Research (Baseera) showed 17% of Egyptians believed that the sit-ins were peaceful, while 67% believed they were not.[164] Another poll by Baseera showed 69% of Egyptians do not approve of the Muslim Brotherhood's continuation (in politics) and 57% of Egyptians feel the Muslim Brotherhood is responsible for all instances of violence since the sit-in dispersals.