Sisi underlines present dangers in October 6 anniversary

CAIRO – 6 October 2019: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi delivered a speech on the 46th anniversary of the victory of 6th of October, 1973 War against Israel, linking between the dangers faced by Egypt in the past and at present, and asserting Egyptians' ability to efface them.

The following is a transcription of the whole speech:

"Egypt celebrates today one of its greatest and most glorious days, the day of traversing from despair to hope, from the past to the future. The 6th of October, 1973 does not just represent a military victory achieved aptly by the Armed Forces. It is a unique expression of the willpower of the nation and the unity of the people. Egyptians were inspired by their ancient history to remain strong and unbending.

It is the right of today's generations to know what happened in the war. We, who lived those days, have a duty to accurately clarify how the test was grueling, how Egyptians passed it successfully, and how the people stood together to back their Armed Forces that the entire people became an army that pulled off, out of that saga, a victory that reinstated dignity and opened the door for both land restoration and peace establishment.

It is the fate of this homeland to face mountainous waves that mostly come from abroad but always break when met with the strength and unityof the Egyptian people, closely attached to Egypt's land and army.

Throughout the past decades, war has taken different shapes and forms until it now targets the peoples' morale, and enters citizens' houses through new media platforms. It is a war aimed at raising doubt and confusion, promoting fear and terrorism, and destroying trust between citizens and national institutions by portraying the state as the enemy while depicting foreign entities that wage war as the refuge and sanctuary.

In this war, which depends on deception, lies, and rumors, victory is tied to the citizen's awareness, concepts, ideas, and beliefs. That is why I am completely confident that we will notch up victory in that war driven by a faith that the great majority of Egyptian people, using their sincere intuition,can make a distinction between honesty and slander.I am quite positive they got tired of deception, deceivers, and groundless allegations against their homeland.

The Egyptian people, who accomplished in 1973 what all thought was impossible and preserved peace in the Middle East for long decades afterwards enduring for that sake incessant attack and questioning, is able to continue achieving victories, preserving the homeland, and protecting the state and institutions out of the faith in the loyalty of such institutions that work on protecting the security, maintaining the stability, and maximizing the accomplishments of Egypt.

Onthe anniversary of the glorious October victory, we salute the soul of hero and martyr Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat, the man who carried a massive responsibility but lived up to the trust of Egypt and its people. He was a patriotic leader with a genius strategy, who prioritized the interest of his country and people, and averted the danger engulfing them.

I salute all the martyrs and heroes of the Armed Forces and the Egyptian people who sacrificed their lives for sacred Sinai. We tell their souls on thisday: "Your children and grandchildren are willing to follow your suit and protectthe free homeland you left under national sovereignty. Such homeland can never tolerate humiliation or submission; it does not get deceived by lies or defeated in psychological war. Egypt will always be a victorious homeland with a raised flag, and will always witness the defeats and disappointments of its enemies no matter how the forms of war vary and how their mechanisms change."

The 6th of October, 1973 war lasted for 17 days until October 23, 1973. The outcomes were the restoration of 20 kilometers of Sinai's land, and bringing Israel to negotiations due its losses. The talks, brokered by the United States, produced the 1979 Peace Treaty per which Egypt got back all of Sinai, except for Taba, which was restored in 1989 through international arbitration.