Sisi: We are taught from military institution to care for our homeland

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Wednesday asserted that his service in the military institution taught him to care for his country and people.

At a meeting with representatives of the Egyptian society, President Sisi asserted that he was taught from the military institution not to give in one inch of the national territories and not to seize the rights of others.

At the beginning of the meeting, he asked the participants to stand a moment of silence mourning the martyrs of Egypt. 
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said at his meeting with representatives of the Egyptian society that he, as an honest Egyptian, can not be part of any conspiracy or plot.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces did not hatch any plot against the Brotherhood group, said president Sisi, adding that former president Mohamed Moris was treated in a fair and respectable way.

President Sisi added that the Armed Forces helped him to serve the interests of the 90 million Egyptians. On the contrary, he added, the Brotherhood is ready to destroy Egypt.

He urged all Egyptians to be united for the best interest of the homeland. "We are facing the most difficult conditions in the contemporary history of Egypt", he asserted.

"Until July 3, 2013, we were seeking a way out of the crisis but with no avail," said the president, adding that "what we offered to them on July 3rd could never be obtained by them once again". "We were trying to have a new start and let the people choose, but this did not happen. Therefore, an action was a must", he pointed out.

The issue is not over yet. Egypt is the only country in the region that was not defeated, thanks to the unity of its people and then the army, said the president, adding that in light of difficult economic conditions, "we did not think to attack another country and seize its resources".

The opportunity was and is still available for taking revenge for the 21 Egyptians who were killed in Sirte, said the president, adding that "we do not seize lands of our brothers in Libya". 
Over the past period, there have been repeated attempts to break the Egyptian will and harm the unity of the Egyptian people. These attempts went to the point of national suicide, diving a wedge among Egyptians against each other and casting doubts on everything.

The Egyptian President urged all Egyptians to overcome the problem of lack of confidence and to be alert of fourth and fifth generation warfare.

What was achieved over the past two years need more than 20 years to be realized but unfortunately people do not sense that because of the current counter campaign that ruins Egyptians' joy. 

Unfortunately, Egyptians interact with this counter campaign because they are humans after all.

He said he is overwhelmed by Egyptians' sense of patriotism on their country but it has to be re-directed to the right track. Casting doubts on everything is meant to break the unity of Egyptians to facilitate knitting plots against Egypt.

But after all this economic crunch and the increase of dollar price, the Egyptians are still united, he said, warning that the viciousness of the current campaign will increase and never decrease. 

"We might harm each other unintentionally," he said, urging Egyptians to remember what they have been suffering from over the past period in terms of violence, instability and lack of security and to consider the success that is being realized one after the other. 
"Those who are working against us are trying to isolate us and impose a blockade on the country but this did not succeed. Sure we are not in our best or else why the revolution erupted in the first place. We have problems in all State institutions but reform takes time to achieve hoped-for results", said president Sisi.

"We have to be aware that we are walking on the right direction and that every day we achieve a success", he added.

He unveiled a plot to undermine Egypt, falsify facts and make people lose confidence in everything. This plot is being run by people inside and outside Egypt but State institutions are the ones that protect their country from any evil, he noted.

There are principles the Egyptian leadership is keen to preserve, including preserving values while running our internal and external affairs away from any opportunism and conspiracies and getting into alliances against a certain side, he added.

Egypt's leadership is keen to take moderate and balanced decision and achieve consensus as long as it is possible both inside and outside Egypt but not at the expense of the country and its principles, he said.

Sisi stressed once again that "we do not give in our rights an at the same time we do not seize others' rights".

"We are patient with those harming us and leave them the chance to consider their stance", he noted.

"These firm principles help us achieve gains both inside and outside. Now everyone respects us", Sisi added. 
On the maritime border demarcation with Saudi Arabia, President Sisi said " we did not abandon our rights, even one sand", but we gave the others their rights.

He said the maritime border issue has not been dealt with before in order not to harm the public opinion in the two countries with taking into consideration the political and security conditions in the region.

The president pointed out that Egypt shouldered the responsibility of protecting the Tiran and Sanafir Islands between Egypt and Saudi Arabia during the wars with Israel and even after the peace treaty with it.

President Sisi said Egypt's viewpoint on the two islands matches the republican decree issued in 1990, which was shelved by the United Nations in response to a Saudi request to restore the islands.

The president said that Egypt decided to float the islands issue after studying it well in order not to enter in a controversy leading to the isolation of Egypt.

President Sisi affirmed that all documents and discussions held so far proved that the two islands are Saudi, calling for avoiding debates about the two islands to leave the issue for the parliament which was elected by people.

The president pointed out that border demarcation with Cyprus helped the discovery of a major gas field, saying efforts are being exerted to demarcate the borders with Greece to benefit from the economic region with it. 
On the murder of the Italian student Giulio Regeni in Cairo, Sisi said security agencies were accused on the social media of committing the crime without any evidence but the Ministry of Interior and the judiciary are probing the issue with transparency, pointing out that relations with Italy are excellent.

As for freedoms and human rights, the president said the government backs the freedom of expression for all people, pointing out that many newspapers publish anti-government reports and that the State does not take measures against them.

The State has been trying to strike a balance between security measures and human rights because there are evil persons among the 90 million people who constitute Egypt's population, said president Sisi.

The president asserted that anyone raising arms against the State will be punished, praising the role of the National Council for Human Rights and civil society organizations in releasing four batches of detained youths.

He said the State managed to achieve successes in combating terrorism and also achieved stability in Sinai as the number of terrorists started to decline.

President Sisi also said the government managed to overcome the crises of electricity and butane gas and improved the country's infrastructure to attract more investments, pointing out that many bridges, roads, ports and airports were built in the past years and on April 25 a number of mega projects will be inaugurated.   
On the country's economic conditions, the president said the government attaches importance to ordinary people, adding the prices of basic goods will not increase because it is the responsibility of the State and army.

He said the establishment of the Reef company, which will be in charge of reclaiming 1.5 million feddans, has been fulfilled.

On French President Francois Hollande's visit to Egypt, the president said Hollande will be accompanied by a high-level delegation grouping representatives of 122 French companies to discuss investment opportunities in Egypt.

He pointed out that the biggest fish farm will be inaugurated in Kafr el-Sheikh within four months and another fish farm will be inaugurated in Port Said within eight months, saying that new cities will be inaugurated in Ismailia, Alamin, East Port Said and Upper Egypt.

On Sinai, the president said that mega projects, including 10 marble factories are being carried out along with a number of housing projects and a university in areas close to the Suez Canal.

As for Egypt's foreign relations, the president pointed out that Egypt's relations are good with all world countries.

He called on Egyptian youths to work on fighting corruption and take part in municipal elections. 

Source : MENA