Principles – One nation – 3/10/2015

   I congratulate the Egyptians on the commemoration of October’s glorious victories in few days hoping peace; goodness and welfare prevail over Egypt and its people. We salute the armed soldiers in the commemoration of their glorious and heroic championships.

   Egyptians were and will always be one nation in the days of hardships and in the times of constitution. They always play a harmonious sweet melody that echoes all over the world and their great intelligence and deep love for their country have always been a wonder to the whole world. All Egyptians focused on one purpose during October war which was their home country. On the memory of this day, I am going to recount the stories of two models of October heroes who reflected the great image of our Egyptian people. They participated in the wars of 1948 &1956&1967&1973.

Admiral “Fouad Mohamed Abou Zikry “:

   One of the prominent leaders of the Egyptian Navy and one of the great planners of some navy attacks, most importantly, the Israeli Navy destroyer “Eilat”. He is the leader who reconstituted the navy forces and led them at the 1973 war.

   He was born in Al-Arish, Sinai on 17/11/1923.He studied at the Maritime College and graduated as a Navy Lieutenant in February, 1946.He worked as a leader of the naval units, then a Chief of Naval Operations’ division .In 1967, he was appointed as a Vice Admiral of navy forces and he showed unsurpassed proficiency in planned attacks like: the return of Egyptian forces from Yemen to Port of Abu Ghosoun, south of Bernice and guiding them to head directly toward Sinai. He also executed navy operations against the Israeli Sea Corps like hitting the Israeli submarine “Dakar” in Alexandria and destroying “Eilat”, which was the first operation of exploding a destroyer using missile boats on 21/10/1967, the day that turned into a navy day of the Egyptian navy forces.

   On 11/6/1967, Israeli commander ordered Eilat to breach the Egyptian territorial waters and Port Said in as an act of defiance to the Egyptian forces. The destroyer attacked an Egyptian squadron and they clashed to make it sink. It continued breaching the Egyptian waters till 18/10/1967. On 18/10/1967, the navy forces received an order to attack and sink the Israeli Navy destroyer Eilat. The operation was successfully executed on 21/10/1967 and had a great effect all over the world as it is said, sinking the INS Eilat changed the atmosphere of the international diplomacy and it represented an evidence of the invincibility, despite defeat, of the Egyptian military.

   Vice Admiral Zikry has led the Egyptian Navy in October 1973 to mesmerize the world with his brilliant plan to besiege Mandeb Strait and prevent the Israeli warships from passing through it. In September/1973, three warships namely, Al Fateh, Al Dafer and Rasheed, headed from Safaga to Aden then to a Somali port and way back to Aden after a week trying to camouflage their original mission. At the zero hour, they headed to their specific destinations to besiege Mandeb strait. No Israeli ship whatsoever was able to pass through the strait during its siege. One of the Israeli writers wrote that the moment that a carrier’s captain acknowledged Eilat base the carrier was prevented from entering Mandeb strait, the news came to the knowledge of the mini-government led by Golda Meir. As a result, the orders were issued to prevent the navigation of the Israeli ships ultimately in the Red Sea. Hence, Eilat base was closed during October’s navy operations and Israel was deprived 100% from shipping in the Red Sea accordingly from getting goods, weapons, ammunition, petroleum and so on.

   Admiral Zikry was an Egyptian hero performing his national duty with ultimate love for his country till he departed in 1983, yet he immortal in both of the Egyptian and International memory of history.

   Lieutenant-general “Fouad Aziz Ghali” head of operation of The 2nd Infantry Division in 1956, and later we will proceed with our talk about October victories …

Anba Ermiah,

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center