While there has long been mixed Egyptian and international opera groups performing in Cairo, the first exclusively Egyptian opera company was established in 1964, following the foundation of the Cairo Conservatoire in the 1950s. After the old opera house burned down, the company continued performing in other theatres in Cairo and Alexandria.

It is true that in the rivalry over the January 25 Revolution’s story and memory, the ancien regime had the upper hand. Yet, the regime’s attempt to enforce forgetfulness of the revolution’s ideals and triumphant moments does not go unchallenged. Although they suffer immensely, and many of them try to forget in order to go on with their lives, some supporters of the revolution are still – using sarcasm, arts and archives – countering and disrupting the regime’s propaganda and false narratives, both online and abroad, while re-presenting the stories and memories of the January 25 democratic uprising.

The most notable change is to the presidential term limit, increasing it from two four-year terms to two six-year terms. This would allow al-Sisi to run for two more terms after his current one ends in 2022, which could keep him in power until 2034.

Egypt has since taken extensive measures to adhere to the Russian demands. Flights from Moscow to Cairo were reinstated in April 2018, but the more important flights to the tourist resorts on the Red Sea such as Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh are still on hold. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met in mid-October to discuss the matter.

Soon after the coup, al-Barghouti began translating many of his poems into English with the help of his mother. Reflecting on the experience, he said that his mother alleviated the difficulty of translating emotions and myths that he prefers to convey in Arabic. “She would liberate me from this feeling I get whenever I’m speaking in English or writing in English, which is that I’m swimming in a sea of jelly,” he said.

Shawkan has become a symbol of the oppression of journalists in Egypt. He received the 2018 UNESCO/Guillero Cano Press Freedom Prize on 2 May 2018. However, Shawkan’s nomination for the award sparked an angry reaction from Egypt.

A 2016 leaked German government report described how the ‘Islamization of Ankara’s domestic and foreign policy since 2011’ has turned the country into a bastion of Islamist groups in the region. Whereas Turkey’s republicans would have shied away from any such public international links, Erdogan has embraced them, heralding to the world Turkey’s new direction and a for the country that he has long sought to achieve.

There is no doubt that this operation is not the same as the ones launched in the past. The Egyptian army announced that it aims to achieve four objectives: tightening control over border posts, eliminating terrorist outposts, immunizing local populations against extremist ideologies and tackling the crime rate, which has soared amid the instability.

The regime maintains that the elections are genuine. Through the many banners – there are a few for Moussa as well – and rallies, it wants to push the narrative that the elections are an actual race and that al-Sisi has near-unconditional support from the people to serve a second term.

Speaking with Ibrahim, one feels that his mission is over. He has done his part – “clashing with every regime from Nasser to Sadat, Mubarak and al-Sisi” – and now hopes that his fight for democracy, rights and civil society in Egypt will continue after him.