Celebrating a people’s revolution

Neither he nor I imagined the momentous events about to emerge in Tahrir Square, in Alexandria and Suez, indeed throughout the cities along the Nile from Aswan to the Mediterranean and from the Sinai to the western oases.

Over the course of our friendship we had long talks about the difficulties of life in Egypt. People were accustomed to unprovoked hassles and shakedowns by the police. Young people often delayed marriage by years because they could not afford a place of their own to live. Parents worried about their children’s education -- schools were very crowded and supplies were rare. And even university graduates found few opportunities. Jobs were scarce and many paid a pittance -- we both knew families living on less than TL 200 per month. Corruption was ever-present and relentless.

However, the Egyptian people were experts in endurance and at finding ways to survive. They had lots of experience living in oppressive situations. No one expected a revolution.

The first news of the demonstrators gathering in Tahrir Square caught us both by surprise and evoked a flood of feelings. We admired the bravery and aspirations of the demonstrators, we feared for their safety, we worried that the police would be unleashed and turn to brutality, we admired the characteristic Egyptian humor we saw on posters, and we were awash in hope for the emergence of democracy.

Mohamed was frustrated that he was not in Cairo to join in the movement to oust Hosni Mubarak and his corrupt cronies. We decided to do what we could do in İstanbul to aid the demonstrators and support freedom in Egypt.

Mohamed contacted Khadija, an Egyptian graduate student here, and they decided to demonstrate at the Egyptian consulate in Levent in support of the movement for freedom and democracy. They prepared posters and found other Egyptians to join them. They went twice to the consulate but found Levent very quiet and felt their presence was little noticed. So, joined by three other Egyptians, they moved to Galatasaray on İstiklal in Beyoglu, a traditional location for demonstrations. They received more attention there with many people stopping to make comments, to ask questions and to offer applause and support.

Mohamed and I decided that perhaps our most effective strategy would be to locate and share as much news from a variety of sources as possible. We wanted to present reports from various sources to try to develop a fuller picture of what was going on in Egypt and to share those reports both with people in Egypt and with supporters outside Egypt. We knew that the Egyptian government was working hard to keep Egyptian citizens cut off from communicating with each other and to minimize both the number and the diversity of those protesting and to allow the public access only to pro-government accounts.

We spent hours combing the Internet and locating reports that seemed reliable. We were particularly interested in first-hand accounts. We posted what we found on Internet sites and e-mailed a torrent of information to people in Egypt. I focused on English-language reports and Mohamed on Arabic-language sources. Hour after hour, we shared what we could find and also shared news and comments from other people, such as Ayman and Atef, two Egyptian friends in the US, who forwarded us material.

After several days, the undreamt became a reality. After hedging and feinting, Mubarak announced his resignation as president of Egypt and, leaving the government in the hands of the Egyptian military, slunk off to his plush palace in Sharm al Sheik, perhaps to brood and to count his money. But at least he was gone. The time for celebration had arrived.

Mohamed and I decided to host a gathering at my flat in Avcılar to join in the celebrations. So, the day after the resignation, we gathered nearly 15 people to talk, argue, analyze, debate, reminisce, share Egyptian jokes and wonder about the unfolding events after the revolution. İstanbul is an international city and the gathering included people from Russia and Iran, the United Kingdom and the United States, Bulgaria and Ukraine, as well as Egypt and Turkey, each of whom brought her or his experiences and perspectives to the conversation.

Mohamed had posted an Egyptian flag and a cartoon about Mubarak on the door and he put together a slide show including pictures from the protests in Levent and Galatasaray, accompanied by Egyptian music. We had prepared hummus, olives, chicken wings, fresh fruit, crudités, blue cheese, white cheese with olive oil and dried herbs, as well as fruit drinks and sodas. Yeliz surprised us when she came to the door carrying bags of groceries. She proceeded to make a delicious cheese börek and a dessert whose name I do not know. Then Maria showed up with a moist chocolate cake. We had planned only on snacks but an unanticipated feast had appeared. As we nibbled and grazed over the food, conversations ranged throughout the flat.

The mood was both joyful and worried. Everyone was pleased to see Mubarak’s exit, as well as the earlier flight of Tunisia’s Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. All hoped that the era of autocrats and plutocrats was ending in the Middle East. People debated which dictator might be the next to fall. Ismail wondered if the success of the Egyptian revolution might encourage a renewal of efforts to meet the hopes of Kurds for a fairer deal in Turkey. Kahve pointed out that the revolution in Iran had led to a new form of oppression, that the overthrow of an authoritarian regime did not guarantee freedom. Khadija stressed that the Egyptian population held a wide variety of opinions and argued that diversity of beliefs and lifestyles would characterize post-Mubarak Egypt. Several people pointed out that the demonstrators in Egypt had used only nonviolent means and that the crowds of protestors included Muslims and Christians, secularists and the devout, covered women and women in miniskirts, professionals and peasants, urban people as well as rural, internationally known scientists and artists as well as anonymous housewives. Egypt’s was a people’s revolution -- surely the future looked bright.

Others argued that the problems of poverty and blocked aspirations had not been solved by the revolution and that the high expectations of the protestors would be squashed by a new authoritarian regime that would continue the old system in new clothing.

All agreed that the revolution was unfinished but that a major victory had been achieved.

After a few hours, the gathering disbanded. But, as we watched planes descend over the moonlit Sea of Marmara to land at Atatürk Airport, we were all sure that we had witnessed a turning point in Egypt and probably a turning point throughout the Middle East. Tyrants can no longer sleep easily and they will twitch in their sleep as the people’s voices invade the complacency of their dreams. The people of Egypt have awakened and their courageous actions are echoing in the hopes of people not only in the Middle East but across the world.