President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Thursday 13/10/2016 attended an educational seminar that was organized by the Armed Forces on the occasion marking the 43^rd anniversary of the glorious October War victory.

Addressing the participants, president Sisi expressed all respect and appreciation for the martyrs of Egypt who sacrificed their lives for defending the homeland. He also thanked their families who offered their sons for the sake of their nation.  President Sisi underlined in particular the role undertaken by the mothers of martyrs who inculcated in their sons noble values and morals.

The president expounded the principles of the Egyptian foreign policy, noting that Egypt is adopting a fair and balanced foreign policy that is characterized by openness, balanced stances, moderate approaches and independent decision making. He explained that Egypt has adopted this method capitalizing on its own experience and after a thorough study of the experiences of other countries where wrong practices led to the destruction of some of them. He highlighted on this score Egypt's keenness not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries or conspire against any country. Egypt's policy always advocates stability and peace, said the president.

President Sisi made it clear that he is explaining this issue after some misinformation that spread over the past two weeks regarding relations between Egypt and Ethiopia. The president said he is keen to assert to the Ethiopian officials that Egypt is seeking to achieve the joint interests of both peoples of Egypt and Ethiopia and does not stand against the Ethiopian interests while maintaining Egypt's interests and its historical rights to the Nile water as it is a very crucial issue for Egypt. The president said he explained this policy since the first meeting with the Ethiopian prime minister and at his speech at the Ethiopian parliament. The president underscored within this context the necessity of being cautious regarding media reports that included rumors to the effect that Egypt was supporting the opposition in Ethiopia. Egypt did not and will not take any measure for conspiring against Ethiopia or causing any chaos there, the president asserted. He expressed hope that this message would be clear for the brothers in Ethiopia to dispel any doubts on this score. Egypt will continue cooperation with the Ethiopian brothers in a way that maintains the Egyptian water interests, he added.

As for recent controversy over Egypt's relations with its sisterly Gulf countries, the president reiterated that nobody whoever would undermine Egypt's close and time-honored relations with its sisterly Gulf countries. Egypt is adopting an independent policy that is aimed at achieving the Arab national security from a national viewpoint, said the president.

He asserted that Egypt is adopting a stance towards the Syrian crisis calling for hammering out a political solution to the crisis for maintaining the Syrian territorial integrity and respecting the will of the Syrian people along with disarming armed groups and reconstructing Syria, he pointed out.

He asserted that Egypt's recent voting on two draft resolutions on Syria in the United Nations Security Council was based on these principles taking into consideration that the two drafts guaranteed putting into effect a truce and allowing the entry of relief assistance to the war-hit areas in Syria. This shows that there was no contradiction in voting for the two drafts.

He further denied that stopping Saudi oil exports to Egypt came in response to the Egyptian stance at the United Nations Security Council on Syria. The president explained that the measure is related to a commercial contract that was signed during the visit of Saudi King Salman bin Abdel Aziz to Egypt in April.

The president also touched on the events of June 30 and July 3, 2013. He noted that the decisions adopted during that period were an immediate result of the free will of the Egyptian people without coordinating with any outside party. This attests to the independence of the Egyptian decision-making, added the president.

There are attempts to sabotage Egypt's relations with other countries through disseminating rumors with a view to placing pressures on Egypt, said the president confirming that Egypt is only kneeling down to Allah the Almighty and not to anybody else.

The president further confirmed that the unity of the Egyptian people will enable them to overcome all challenges. He further noted that those who have a free will should bear with challenges and difficulties.

The president highlighted the necessity that Egyptian media should be accurate in its reporting. He indicated that a decision, adopted by Sudan banning Egyptian agricultural imports, was based on a report that was published by Egyptian media on irrigation water used in Egyptian agricultural crops which was proven later to be untrue. The president cited other examples of media reports that harmed the Egyptian interests including those on the murder of Italian student Regeni in Cairo and the crash of the Russian plane in Sinai.