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p History proves that departure from a progressive course, from solidarity with the socialist world inevitably develops into a severe trial for the people of the country which does this. It is all the more important, therefore, to recollect the fruitful nature of Soviet-Egyptian cooperation in the period when Egypt was led by true revolutionary democrats who were determined to build a society free of exploitation. Naturally, at the time Egyptian progressive forces received every assistance and support from the USSR— moral, political, economic, organisational and military. Let us refer to facts.

p In the turbulent summer and autumn of 1956 the Egyptians and all other freedom-loving peoples of Africa and Asia received further confirmation of the Soviet Union’s sincere and friendly attitude to Egypt which had 79 nationalised the Suez Canal. Having exhausted all means of economic, political and psychological pressure, the imperialists resorted to force in order to return the canal to its former owners. Israel, Britain and France attacked Egypt. Before and after the imperialist aggression the US attitude was clearly dual. State Secretary John Foster Dulles, for instance, insisted that nationalisation should be confined only to assets that were not connected with international interests. Otherwise, he did not rule out international intervention. And this was what Israel, Britain and France actually did at the end of October 1956. Such was the essence of the US attitude towards the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company from the very beginning.

p The USA brought pressure to bear on Egypt and tried to bring it to its knees with the help of an economic blockade and hunger. As President Nasser noted at the time, "the United States tried to use other means to attain what they failed to attain by aggression".  [79•2 

p The USSR supported Egypt at all stages of the Suez crisis. In a statement on 9 August 1956 the Soviet Government qualified the hostile moves of the Western powers towards Egypt as a direct challenge to the cause of peace. The statement evoked a broad response, and the Egyptian press assessed it as an indication of the USSR’s full support for Egypt.

p At the London Suez Conference^ (16-24 August 1956) and during the debate in the UN Security Council in September 1956 Soviet diplomats exposed the antiEgyptian intrigues of world imperialism. In a statement to the Security Council, the Soviet Government declared that "military preparations of the United Kingdom and France, conducted with the support of the United States, for the purpose of exerting pressure on Egypt over the Suez question, were grossly at variance with the principles of the Charter and could not be regarded otherwise than as an act of aggression against Egypt, which had exercised its legitimate rights as a sovereign State in nationalising the private Suez Canal Company".  [79•3 

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p Firmly and consistently the Soviet Government insisted that the Suez question had to be resolved by negotiation and urged the UN to take serious measures against those UN member-states which threatened to resort to military intervention in Egypt. When, in an attempt to disrupt the passage of ships through the Suez Canal and thus prove that Egypt could not operate it, the former Suez Company recalled the foreign pilots working on the canal, the Soviet people helped Egypt to surmount the difficulties which were deliberately created by the imperialists. Egypt’s invitation to pilots in friendly countries to work on the Suez Canal was enthusiastically received in the USSR and many other countries. The response of the Soviet seamen was immediate. Literally within a few days after the publication of the Egyptian invitation, the Egyptian public was extending a warm welcome to the first Soviet pilots to arrive in the country. By their hard work they helped Egypt to surmount the sabotage of the former owners of the Suez Canal Company and successfully cope with yet another severe trial inspired by the imperialists.

p The Soviet Union came to Egypt’s defence from the start of the three-power imperialist aggression. On 31 October the Soviet Government issued a statement condemning the attack on Egypt and emphasised that the Security Council should take immediate measures to put an end to the aggression of Britain, France and Israel against Egypt and secure the immediate withdrawal of the interventionist troops from Egypt.

p At the Security Council meetings on 30 and 31 October 1956 and at the Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly the Soviet Union demanded the immediate termination of the intervention in Egypt. This demand was unanimously supported by the Soviet people who expressed their solidarity with the struggle of the Egyptian people. Imperialist aggression against Egypt was unequivocally condemned in statements issued by the governments of all the republics of the USSR. On 2 November 1956 Pravda published an editorial entitled "Hands Off Egypt”. On behalf of the peoples of the Soviet Union the Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee issued an address to the people of Egypt. "Brothers and sisters, friends and comrades, the freedom-loving people of Egypt,” it said, "in this hour 81 when world peace is put to the test the peoples of the Soviet Union are with you.”  [81•4 

p On 2 November 1956 the Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly by an overwhelming majority passed a resolution demanding the termination of military operations and the withdrawal of foreign troops from Egypt. But in spite of the clearly expressed will of the peoples of the world, the governments of Britain, France and Israel continued their armed intervention. At a plenary meeting of the General Assembly on 3 November, the Soviet representative pointed out that the flames of war kindled by the aggression against Egypt by France, Britain and Israel threatened to engulf the entire Middle East and jeopardised international peace and security.  [81•5 

p The Soviet Government deemed it necessary to take effective measures in order to cut short the imperialist intervention in Egypt. In messages issued on 5 November it sternly warned the British, French and Israeli governments. It also proposed to the US Government to cooperate with the view to putting an immediate end to aggression and bloodshed. At the same time it sent a cable to the Security Council Chairman On the Non-Fulfilment by Britain, France and Israel of the Decisions of the Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly of 2 November 1956 and on the Introduction of Immediate Measures to Cut Short the Aggression of These States Against Egypt. Attached to the cable was a draft Security Council resolution demanding the British, French and Israeli troops to end within 12 hours (following the adoption of the resolution) military operations against Egypt and withdraw their troops from the country within three days. The draft envisaged that if Britain, France and Israel did not fulfil the adopted resolution, “the Security Council, in keeping with Article 42 of the UN Charter, would deem it necessary that all member-states, primarily the United States and the Soviet Union as permanent members of the Security Council which possess powerful Air Force and Navy, provide armed and other assistance to the victim of aggression, Egypt, by sending air, naval and other military 82 units, volunteers, and instructors and by extending other forms of aid".  [82•6  The Soviet Government pointed out in the cable, that it was prepared to "contribute to curbing the aggressors, protecting the victims of aggression and restoring peace by sending necessary air and naval units to Egypt".  [82•7 

p The USSR’s energetic moves had a sobering effect on the aggressors. On 6 November 1956 the British Government, and on 7 November the French Government informed the UN that they had ordered a cease-fire in Egypt. On the same day the Israeli Government also agreed to a ceasefire. Military operations came to a full stop.

p In a speech made during his visit to the USSR in 1958, Egyptian President Nasser said: "When our country was living through difficult days, the peoples of the Soviet Union helped us with weapons, they extended a hand of friendship in our struggle against the economic blockade and the Anglo-French-Israeli aggression. The Soviet Government extended a hand of friendship and assistance to our country.”  [82•8 

p Soviet assistance and support for Egypt’s struggle against the British-French-Israeli aggression helped the Egyptian people to consolidate and extend the gains of the July Revolution.

p In the early 1960s Egypt carried out domestic socioeconomic reforms and broadened its contacts with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. These important developments took place at one and the same time. In 1960 Egypt launched the construction of the Aswan hydropower complex with Soviet assistance.

p Drawing attention to the exceptionally^mportant role played by the USSR in Egypt’s industrialisation and in the restructuring of the country’s economy in conformity with the proclaimed progressive social development, the then Egyptian Minister for Industry Aziz Sidki said in January 1963 that "no other state provides the United Arab Republic such great and effective assistance as does the Soviet Union".  [82•9 

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p All that the Egyptian people had attained in the building of a new life was placed in jeopardy by Israel’s aggression against Egypt and other Arab countries in June 1967. The Soviet Union emphatically condemned this criminal act. On 5 June 1967, as soon as it learned of Israel’s attack on Egypt and other Arab countries, the Soviet Government issued a statement urging Israel immediately to cease fire and withdraw its troops to their initial positions behind the cease-fire line. On 7 June, after Israel had refused to fulfil the UN Security Council cease-fire resolution, the Soviet Union demanded convocation of another emergency session of the Council. The Soviet delegation submitted a draft resolution insisting that the governments concerned should, as the first step, cease fire and all military operations by 20.00 hours Greenwich time on 7 June 1967. This draft was endorsed by the Security Council.

p On 9 June a meeting of the leaders of Communist and Workers’ Parties and also of the governments of a number of socialist countries was held in Moscow on the initiative of the CPSU Central Committee and the Soviet Government. Having analysed the situation created by the aggression, the leaders of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia signed a statement which said in part: "In this difficult hour for the states of the Arab East the socialist countries declare that they are wholly and fully behind their just struggle and will help them to repulse aggression and safeguard their national independence and territorial integrity.”  [83•10 

p The participants demanded that Israel should immediately stop hostilities against the neighbouring countries and withdraw its troops behind the cease-fire line. The statement also made it clear that if the Israeli Government did not stop its aggression, the socialist countries that had signed the document would do everything necessary to help the Arab peoples to deliver a resolute rebuff to the aggressors and restore peace in that region. The Moscow meeting confirmed that the Arab peoples and the national liberation movement have reliable friends and allies in the person of the socialist states and Communist and Workers’ Parties.

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p On 1Of June 1967 the Soviet Government decided to sever diplomatic relations with Israel. Committed to Lenin’s principle that support for national liberation movements should not be confined to "a bare recognition or proclamation of the need for closer union between the working people of the various nations”,  [84•11  it also warned the USA that if Israel would not terminate its military operations, the USSR would not hesitate to resort to military measures. This resolute step cooled the heads of the aggressor and his patrons, and 22 hours after the message had been conveyed military operations were halted.

p The question of the speediest liquidation of the dangerous consequences of the Israeli aggression was taken up at the Fifth Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly which was held in June 1967 on the initiative of the USSR. In his speech on 19 June the head of the Soviet delegation, Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers Alexei Kosygin condemned Israel’s aggression. He demanded liquidation of its consequences, immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Israeli troops behind the 1949 ceaselire line and full compensation for the damage caused by the aggressor to Egypt, Syria and Jordan.

p The peoples of Egypt and other Arab countries closely followed the work of the Emergency Session. Egypt was aware that the Session was the scene of struggle between the anti-imperialist forces led by the Soviet Union, on the one hand, and the forces of neocolonialism and reaction whose aspirations were supported by the imperialist circles of the USA and Western Europe, on the other. But owing to the obstructive stand of the USA and its allies the key issue on the Session’s agenda—the withdrawal of the Israeli troops from all occupied territories—was not settled. The Soviet Union continued to work actively for the elimination of the consequences of the Israeli aggression and the settlement of the Middle East crisis. The matter was examined at a Plenary Meeting of the CPSU Central Committee in July 1967. The meeting qualified Israeli aggression as a conspiracy of the reactionary forces of world imperialism against one of the contingents of the national liberation movement, against progressive Arab states which had 85 taken the road of progressive socio-economic transformations in the interests of the working people and were pursuing an anti-imperialist policy.

p In July the leaders of the socialist countries met again, this time in Budapest, to discuss the Middle East situation. They demanded the immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from all occupied territories in Egypt and other Arab countries.

p In those difficult days for the Arab East, the socialist countries did everything they could to help Egypt and Syria safeguard their sovereignty and independence. At their meetings in Moscow and Budapest in June and July 1967 the leaders of the European socialist countries decided to provide urgent political, economic and military assistance to the Arab countries—victims of the Israeli aggression. Manufactured goods and food from socialist countries began to arrive in Egypt. In August the UAR Minister for Economy and Foreign Trade said that in that period the socialist countries led by the USSR extended special purpose loans to help Egypt promote economic development.  [85•12  The Soviet Union also began to restore Egypt’s defensive capacity, and from July to September 1967 it sent modern military equipment to the country.

p In a speech on 1 May 1970 President Nasser spoke very highly about Soviet assistance to Egypt in its hour of need: "We say that were it not for Soviet assistance after the June 1967 events imperialism would have subjugated our country, all our aims would have been trampled by the boots of the invaders, and executions and assassination would have become the legal actions of those who sought to command the destiny of the Arab nations.”  [85•13 

p In the ensuing period the Soviet Union consistently and energetically worked for a political settlement of the Middle East crisis, for the liquidation of the dangerous consequences of the Israeli aggression and for a just peace in that part of the world. It also continued to assist the UAR, thus objectively contributing to the creation of a material basis for its independent development. The construction of the High Aswan Dam which President Nasser called "a living symbol of creative assistance and boundless opportunities 86 of Arab-Soviet friendship"  [86•14  points to the fruitful nature of Soviet-Egyptian economic cooperation.

p President GamallAbdel Nasser whose sudden death occurred on 28 September 1970 was an active proponent of EgyptianSoviet friendship. He believed that its expansion would ensure the success of the anti-imperialist struggle and enable all Arab peoples to consolidate national and social emancipation. The late President gave a fitting rebuff to internal reaction and imperialism which at times heavily pressured the Egyptian Government. "We are united by our concerted stand in the sacred international struggle for humanism, against imperialism and exploitation,” he said. "We are bound by common, mutual interests and cooperation, by the need for continuous unification, which has made our friendship powerful and sincere.”  [86•15 

p In its decisions the 24th Congress of the CPSU noted that a just and lasting settlement in the Middle East and the liquidation of seats of war is one of the main aims in the struggle for peace, freedom and independence of peoples. Firmly abiding by these decisions and Leninist principles in its foreign policy, the Soviet Union showed in October 1973 that its desire for a peaceful settlement of conflicts also meant that it was prepared to render every assistance to peoples fighting for the consolidation of their independence, for national liberation and social emancipation, and to counter all encroachments on their sovereignty. It was the Soviet Union’s decisive contribution to the restoration of Egypt’s military and economic potential and the deliveries of Soviet weapons that enabled Egypt and Syria to carry out such effective operations in the October war (1973) against Israel which forever dispelled the myth of its invincibility and undermined the confidence of the Israeli leadership in the absolute impunity of their aggressive acts.

p The Soviet Union’s stand in the course of the October war heightened its prestige in the Arab countries and strengthened Soviet-Arab relations. Addressing the Egyptian National Assembly on 8 December 1973, the then Deputy Prime Minister of the republic A. H. Khatem said: "The 87 political and economic assistance which we received from the Soviet Union, the Soviet weapons with which we countered aggression will always be one of the most durable factors of our friendship.”  [87•16 

p The emergent process of international detente stimulated the efforts to put an end to Israeli aggression. Heeding the joint Soviet-US proposal the UN Security Council adopted resolutions 338 and 339 on a cease-fire in the Middle East. The Soviet Union also endorsed the resolution to send UN peace-keeping forces to that part of the world. In compliance with Egypt’s request the USSR sent its representatives to observe the implementation of the cease-fire resolution. The principled character of the Soviet Union’s policy and effectiveness of the assistance which it provided, when it was most needed, once again showed the Arab peoples that the Soviet Union was their loyal friend and ally.

p In the period after the July Revolution (1952) in Egypt and until President Nasser’s death in 1970 Soviet-Egyptian relations made noteworthy progress. This was not to the liking of the opponents of Soviet-Egyptian friendship for it obstructed their plans of leading Egypt away from the road of deep-going social and economic transformations and making it give up its socialist orientation and progressive foreign policy course.

p After Nasser’s death the reaction temporarily gained the upper hand in Egypt. Forces hostile towards the USSR became more^’active and the Egyptian! President Sadat became their leader. A manifestation of this policy— and Sadat pursued it for a long time—was Egypt’s decision to terminate the 1971 Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the USSR. The TASS Statement issued in this connection said that the responsibility for the Egyptian leadership’s policy towards the Soviet Union in recent years and the repudiation of the Treaty rested wholly on the Egyptian side. At the same time the Statement pointed out: "The Soviet Union has pursued and will continue to pursue a principled, consistent policy aimed at promoting friendly relations with the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Egyptian people.”  [87•17 

p Public opinion and the press in the Arab East sharply condemned Sadat’s decision as detrimental to the national 88 interests of the Egyptian and other Arab peoples. In Egypt itself his move evoked a negative response. For instance, member of the Egyptian National Assembly Ahmed Takha, who voted against terminating the Treaty, said in his statement that Soviet-Egyptian relations were a "model of international relations”. He also noted that it would be wrong to forget about Soviet weapons which were given to Egypt free of charge in 1967, i.e., about very real assistance, and mainly about the Soviet Union’s economic and technical aid without which Egypt would have had no heavy industry, the basis of its economic growth.

The future will definitely show that multiform cooperation and friendship with the USSR are above all consistent with the vital interests of the Egyptian people.