Following Egypt’s 2013 army coup that ousted the democratically elected Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood (MB) government, there were massive protests and sit-ins in Cairo and clashes between MB supporters and the army, resulting in nearly 1,000 deaths. Most of the clashes occurred in Cairo’s Rabaa Square. In Arabic, the word “Rabaa” or “Rabia” means “fourth,” and so MB supporters adopted the name “R4BIA” for the new four-fingered salute, which consists of raising for fingers, and folding you thumb over your palm. ( “24-Aug-13 World View — Turkey’s Erdogan adopts Muslim Brotherhood’s four-fingered salute”)
In the middle of his first major speech on Saturday following the coup attempt in Turkey, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan flashed the R4BIA four-fingered salute, as shown in the above screen grab, as a signal that he still supports the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. (“17-Jul-16 World View — Attempted army coup in Turkey collapses within hours”)
The significance of this is that it’s a new indication that Erdogan has no intention of reconciling with Egypt. Erdogan has reconciled with both Israel and Russia in recent weeks, and some analysts had speculated that Egypt would be next. However, Erdogan’s four-fingered salute on Saturday is one of several indications that no such reconciliation is possible at this time. READ MORE
