Royce Morcos, representative of the Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, stressed that the events that occurred on 30 June were not a military coup as the Muslim Brotherhood is promoting.
“It was a massive popular revolution supported by the great Egyptian army,” he said.
Morcos said he met on Thursday with a US human rights official for the first time since 30 June.
He said the church had refused to meet with any US official earlier because despite strong condemnations from the US government on the attacks of churches, Morcos claims President Barack Obama never acknowledged that churches had been destroyed after the revolution. Morcos was also upset with the Obama administration because he insists they considered 30 June a military coup.
“But now, we’ve noticed a change in the attitude of the US administration and we welcome US officials,” he added.
Though Obama made multiple statements warning the ousted President Mohamed Morsy to consider Egypt's minorities during his rule, Morcos claims the United States never talked about the rights of Copts during this period.
He also told the official that there are fair people in the US Congress, such as Rep. Michele Bachmann, former presidential candidate who is known for her conspiratorial and Islamophobic views. Bachmann said the United States is prepared to classify the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization if the Egyptian government says so.
Morcos added that the United States respects elected governments and presidents and that is why it should also respect the will of the Egyptian people. “The crowds that came out on 30 June to demand his departure were the ones who had elected him before,” said Morcos.
He said he told the US official that the people would vote for the constitution because it meets the demands of the 25 January and 30 June revolutions, and that Egyptian Copts are living under the cloak of Al-Azhar and its moderate scholars.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
