Operation Featherweight: Month 33, Week 3, Day 6.

In 1994 Recep Tayyip Erdogan became Mayor of the Turkish city of Istanbul. He represented the Islamist Welfare Party (RP).

At a Welfare Party rally in 1997  Erdogan recited a poem by famous Turkish poet Ziya Goklap. However Erdogan changed the words to instruct his Islamist followers that; "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers" in a call for his holy Muslim army to overthrow the secular Turkish state.

Obviously this call for armed insurrection and religious warfare did not go down well with the secular Turkish state. So Erdogan was sent to prison for 10 months and the Welfare Party was disbanded.

Upon release from prison Erdogan formed the Islamist Justice & Development Party (AKP) who are sometimes known simply as; "The AK." In the 2002 the AKP won a large Parliamentary majority. However due to his conviction for inciting violence and racial hatred Erdogan was unable to take up the post of Prime Minister.

So the AKP simply made Abdullah Gul Prime Minister. Gul's one task as Prime Minister was to quash Erdogan's conviction allowing him to take over as Prime Minister in early 2003. Erdogan then set about pursuing a Neo-Ottoman strategy. In short he wants to re-establish the Ottoman Empire - the last Islamist Caliphate.

In 2011 the people of Tunisia overthrow their dictator Ben Ali and shortly afterwards the people of Egypt overthrew their dictator. Amid all this upheaval Erdogan saw an opportunity to make his dream of a new Ottoman Empire a reality.

Two nations that are key to the original Ottoman Empire are Syria and Egypt. On 24th of August 1516 the Ottoman Empire faced the Mamluk Empire in the Battle of Dabiq Meadow which is around 50km (30 miles) north-east of the modern Syrian city of Aleppo.

Victory at the Battle of Dabiq Meadow gave the Ottoman Empire total victory over the Mamluk Empire. With the Mamluk Empire being based in Egypt this extended the Ottoman Empire all the way across the Middle-East, North-Africa (MENA) region.

So in early spring of 2011 Syria Erdogan set about backing the Islamist terror groups that became the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Army of Conquest/Jaish al-Fatah (JAF) to overthrow the Syrian government. As a sign of their dedication to the dream of a new Ottoman Empire ISIL publish an online propaganda magazine called; "Dabiq."

In Egypt Erdogan thought his task would be easier. The Egyptian people that already overthrown the government of Hosni Mubarak. Therefore all Erdogan needed to do was make sure the Sunni-Islamist Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohamed Morsi representing the Freedom & Justice Party (FJP) won the upcoming Presidential election.

Initially Erdogan achieved this aim. When Morsi was elected on June 22nd 2012 (22/6/12) Erdogan celebrated by flying a Turkish F4 Phantom into Syrian airspace in order to have it shot-down. The hope being that this would provide an excuse for Erdogan to formally invade Syria.

The problem was that Mohamed Morsi wasn't even Erdogan's first choice for Egypt's President. Both he and the FJP wanted the Muslim Brotherhood's Deputy Supreme Spiritual Guide Khairat el-Shater. However much like Erdogan al-Shater had been imprisoned in 2007 for attempting to wage religious war against Egypt's secular state so was banned from holding public office.

Morsi dedicated his year as Egypt's President to one task and one task alone. Smuggling advanced weapons from Egypt's neighbour Libya to the Muslim Brotherhood offshoot Hamas in Palestine's Gaza Strip. This led to two wars between Hamas and Israel in 2012 and again in 2014. Hamas lost both of these wars.

What Morsi did not do was make any attempt to address the underlying issues that prompted the January 25th 2011 (25/1/11) Revolution. He did though succeed in running up Egypt's national debt by around USD20bn. Roughly USD50m for each day that he was in office.

So in June of 2013 a petition began circulating calling for Morsi to either step down or call a fresh election to reaffirm his democratic mandate. This petition ended up being signed by roughly one third of Egypt's entire population of 80 million people. When Morsi refused to respond to the petition most of the people who'd signed it travelled to Tahrir Square in Egypt's capital Cairo. They set up a mass protest calling on Morsi to respond to the petition.

After a week of this protest Morsi had still not responded to the petition. So as with the January 25th Revolution the Egyptian military sided with the protesters and eased the dictator out of power on July 3rd 2013 (3/7/17).

Neither Erdogan nor the Muslim Brotherhood took the will of the Egyptian people in good grace. They immediately declared July 3rd Revolution to be a coup. The Muslim Brotherhood set up armed protests camps in Cairo's al-Nadha Square and Rabaa al-Adawiya Square. Effectively turning the Mosques in those squares into military barracks.

After six weeks of these camps being used to launch violent attacks against the Egyptian security services and Egyptian civilians who were kidnapped and murdered Egypt's interim government moved in to evict the Muslim Brotherhood on August 14th 2013 (14/8/13). Particularly at the Rabaa camp the Muslim Brotherhood responded by opening fire on the Egyptian security services and setting fire to the tent camp killing some 600 of their own members and 43 police officers.

You may well remember this. Seven days later on August 21st (21/8/13) Erdogan accused the Syrian government of using the Chemical Weapon Sarin in the Damascus suburb of East Ghouta.

In response to the clearance of the camps at Rabaa and Nadha Erdogan and the Muslim Brotherhood established the Rabaa campaign. Its logo is defined by black lettering against a yellow background and a four-fingered salute. This is not to mistaken with the; "Assad Chemical Genocide" campaign which is defined by black lettering against a yellow background and a four-fingered salute.

However at the March 11th 2017 (11/3/17) riot outside the Turkish Consulate in Rotterdam, the Netherlands both of those logos did seem to be interchangeable with the Turkish flag.

Erdogan and the Muslim Brotherhood claimed protest campaign has also been accompanied by an out-and-out terror campaign conducted by the Supporters of the Holy House/Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (ABM). They are based in the northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

The security situation in the Sinai Peninsula has long been complicated by Egypt's relationship with Israel. The peace agreement that ended the 1973 Yom Kippur War between Egypt and Israel prevents Egypt from deploying troops in the Sinai without Israel's permission. As a result the area represents something of a lawless, ungoverned space.

Ansar Bait al-Maqdis are really nothing more then a small group of local tribal warlords who profit from this ungoverned space. One of their main sources of business is control of the smuggling trade with Hamas in Gaza. The Holy House in their name is a reference to the Temple Mount/Al-Asqa Mosque in Jerusalem.

However in November 2014 ABM formally affiliated themselves with ISIL renaming themselves; "Sinai Province." Since then they have largely battled the Egyptian security forces within northern Sinai whilst occasionally conducting small, isolated terror attacks such as a hand grenade attack or a shooting within Egypt's main part. Particularly around the capital Cairo and the nearby Giza Pyramids tourist attraction.

Both the Rabaa campaign and the ISIL campaign have been heavily supported by both the Turkish media and the Muslim Brotherhood media. Particularly the Al Jazeera network.

So for example it has become common to refer to the July 3rd Revolution as a "Coup" with no mention of either the petition or the mass public protests. Likewise people refer to the "Rabaa Massacre" without mentioning that the people gathered at Rabaa and Nadha spent six weeks kidnapping and murdering people who disagreed with them or that they set fire to the Rabaa camp themselves in an effort to make Martyrs of 600 of their members.

This propaganda campaign has sadly infected the way that the western media report on events in Egypt. A key figure in this contamination of reporting has been a journalist by the name of Sherine Tadros. She initially worked of Al Jazeera before being employed by Britain's Sky News in an effort to promote their newly launched Sky News Arabic service.

Sherine Tadros has not been formally blacklisted by the western media. However due to her extensive lies and support for terror groups no western news outlet is choosing to employ her. She is now currently working as Amnesty International's liaison to the United Nations (UN). Bear that in mind next time Amnesty International or the UN issue a report on either Egypt or Syria.

This Islamist propaganda campaign has actually put Egypt of the forefront of the Fake News debate that is currently going on in the west. In December 2016 Egypt was forced to pass a specific law making it illegal to publish news which is false and intended to create chaos by inciting violence against public institutions.

The prime example of why Egypt  needs such a law was an ISIL attack on a checkpoint in the Sinai. Al Jazeera reported that ISIL had managed to kill hundreds of Egyptian police and soldiers. The actual number was 13. However despite being corrected by the Egyptian government and other news outlets Al Jazeera continued to report this vastly inflated and entirely false death toll as a way to celebrate ISIL's great victory against Egypt.

Although former US President Barack Obama did the Egyptian people have not been so stupid as to fall for these attempts to tear their country apart. So since 2013 neither the Rabaa campaign nor the ISIL campaign have gained traction and aren't really going anywhere. Even if they do remain a source of tension and irritation.

On March 23rd (23/3/17) ISIL did try to breath new life into their campaign by conducting a bombing in the Maadi district of Cairo. This was timed to coincide with the release from prison of Hosni Mubarak - the dictator toppled in the January 25th Revolution. The intention being to portray the Rabaa and Sinai Province campaigns as the opposition to the corrupt government that freed Mubarak in an effort to united Egyptians behind them.

Largely though ISIL have been limited to trying to purge Egypt's Coptic Christians for the Sinai. On December 16th 2016 (16/12/16) they carried out a bombing at the Botroseya Church which is next to the main Coptic Cathedral in Cairo's Abbassia district.

However unlike in Iraq or Syria rather than taking control of huge areas and then killing all the Christian Sinai Province have been limited to attacking individual Christian families in their homes - often at night. This though has created enough fear that since late February 2017 more than 250 Christian families have fled from the Sinai for other parts of Egypt forcing the government to house them rather like refugees fleeing a warzone.

On Sunday (9/4/17) Sinai Province conducted twin suicide bombings against Christian Churches.

The first struck at St George's Church in Tanta which is around 110km (65 miles) north of Cairo and around 70km (40 miles) west of Islamiya which is where the Sinai Peninsula connects with the rest of Egypt. This killed 29 people and wounded 70.

The second struck St Marks Cathedral in Alexandria some 220km (130 miles) north-west of Cairo and around 65km (40 miles) north-west of Tanta. St Marks Cathedral is the seat of the seat of Egypt's Coptic Church. 16 people were killed in this bombing and 66 were wounded.

These bombings struck at the start of the holiest week in the Christian calender - known simply as; "Holy Week." On Palm Sunday Jesus returned to Jerusalem where he was greeted by a mass of supporters fanning him with Palm leaves. Viewing this as a threat the Romans arrested Jesus on Maunday Thursday and executed him on Good Friday. On Easter Sunday Jesus rose from the dead. East Sunday comes at the end of an almost Ramadan-like month of fasting and sacrafice.

The bombings also struck three weeks before the Catholic Christian Pope is scheduled to visit Egypt. The purpose of the visit being to improve the Catholic Church's relationship both with the Coptic Christian Church and Islam. For some reason ISIL have become extremely fixated on the Catholic Pope. They seem to view him as a sort of rival Caliph.

Sunday's (9/4/17) bombings come at a time of growing confidence for ISIL, the Army of Conquest and the Rabaa campaign.

Last Tuesday (4/4/17) Erdogan once again accused the Syrian government of using the Chemical Weapon Sarin. This time against the town of Khan Sheikhoun where the Army of Conquest are mounting a failed offensive against the city of Hama. Unlike in 2013 on this occasion Erdogan's claims have prompted the US to conduct missile strikes against the Syrian government on Friday (7/4/17).

So with the perception that he is on the verge of victory in Syria Sunday's (9/4/17) bombings seem to be an attempt to reinvigorate Erdogan's campaign in Egypt.

By attacking Christians the bombings force the Egyptian government to do more to protect its Christian population. This allows Sinai Province and the Rabaa campaign to portray the government as the protector of the apostates against Islam.

At the same time today (10/4/17) Sinai Province have fired rockets into Israel. This allows them to portray themselves as the holy warriors against Islam's supposed worst enemy - the Jews.

At around 16:35 on 10/4/17 (UK date) I'll be back to cover the Egyptian government's response.

Edited at around 18:40 on 10/4/17 (UK date) to add;

In response to Sunday's (9/4/17) bombings the Egyptian government have introduced a State of Emergency under Law 162 pending Parliamentary approval. The use of Law 162 is a very sensitive issue within Egypt.

It was first used in 1967 in response to the 6 Day War with Egypt. That State of Emergency remained in place until 1980. Then 18 months later the Muslim Brotherhood assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and his successor Hosni Mubarak again invoked Law 162. That State of Emergency lasted until Mubarak was overthrown in the January 25th Revolution and his misuse of the law was a major driving factor in the revolution.

Despite the law has been abused in the past with a low-intensity war being fought in the northern Sinai, bombings in multiple cities and an influx of Internally Displaced People (IDP's) Egypt does seem to be experiencing a situation that warrants a State of Emergency.

On November 13th 2015 (13/11/15) France experienced the Paris Massacres and introduced a State of Emergency. Since then it has been renewed four times. Most recently in February 2017 after an unsuccessful stabbing attack at the Louvre museum. Egypt has gone through numerous attacks much worse then the Louvre attack without declaring a State of Emergency.

Egypt and France's State of Emergency laws are very similar. They both allow for the restriction on movements of people in certain areas and certain times including imposing curfews and banning demonstrations. The both allow for semi-private buildings such as shops or other businesses to be closed. They both allow for firearm licenses to be suspended and weapons confiscate. The both also allow for the censorship of the press and other media.

Egypt and France's laws do different in two important ways though. Egypt's State of Emergency allows for warrant-less search & seizure whereas France's requires that searches must be warranted by a administrative figure like a local Mayor rather than by a Judge.

The most important difference though is that while France's State of Emergency allows people to be detained at home - house arrest - Egypt's totally suspends Habeas Corpus. That means people can be imprisoned without trial indefinitely. With Egypt's last big State of Emergency lasting for 30 years that is a serious concern.

It must also be said that even with the best efforts and intentions of the Egyptian security forces I don't see the security situation in Egypt changing anytime. The problems are being driven by outside forces which require international support to resolve. Based certainly on the events of the events of that past week the international willingness to resolve those external problems seems to be completely missing.

With Egypt therefore facing a potentially long State of Emergency I can't help but wonder if rather than imposing it nationally it would be possible to impose it locally where the problems are at their worst. The northern Sinai and the neighbouring provinces for example. Even if the government then have to impose the State of Emergency nationally it at least shows they are only doing so as a last resort.

If there is no option then to impose a State of Emergency nationally then the security forces need to use their new powers extremely sparingly.

That means they only use them against the Rabaa campaign and ISIL. They do not use them against common criminals and other forms of political dissent.

19:25 on 10/4/17 (UK date).