Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 14 /Trend /
Trend Arabic News Service commentator Aygul Taghiyeva
Following the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi by the army, the country's population is sharply divided between supporters and opponents of this decision, leading to mass protests with demands to return President Morsi to power.
Despite the fact that the army was aware of the fact that Morsi'a supporters will not be silent after the overthrow of their leader, such a sharp and prolonged resistance was not expected by anyone.
From the first days of Morsi's overthrow, the interim government of Egypt has stated that it does not intend to dismiss the Muslim Brotherhood from political processes in the country, and urged supporters of Morsi to stop the protest rallies and agree to negotiate in order to achieve the national truce. However, along with this statement, the arrests of the Muslim Brotherhood members continued, with even former President Mohamed Morsi being arrested.
The situation in Egypt became difficult with the decision of the interim government to start today the crackdown on demonstrators, resulting in the loss of about 300 civilians.
This turn of events demonstrates that the Egyptian army, which throughout the history of the country has played a crucial role in the political process, is not going to let the Muslim Brotherhood to push it around and wait for them to decide on peace talks. The army, financially supported by petrodollar countries of the Persian Gulf, is likely to continue the dispersal of protests organized by Morsi's supporters with military equipment and firearms.
On the other hand, compromise should not be expected from supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood either. The Muslim Brotherhood has for many years been declared a terrorist organization in Egypt, and its members as well as their activities were prosecuted by the law.
Having achieved the establishment of their political party and the rise to power, they will not so easily agree to back down from their principles.
In addition, the deaths of civilians during demonstrations will encourage even more people to protest. Alongside, the latest statement of the head of Egyptian university 'Al-Azhar' Ahmed Tayyib, who is a religious leader for many Egyptians, says that the killing of civilians is inexcusable and must be punished.
Thus, the situation in Egypt, incapable of overcoming the internal political and economic crisis since the beginning of 2011, has exacerbated. If the conflicting parties fail to reach an agreement, Egypt might face many years of civil war, the consequences of which will affect the entire region.