Pan-Arabism in Egypt: A Mainspring in the Exodus of Greek-Egyptians and Foreign Diplomacy Today

President Gamal Abdel Nasser greeting crowds in Hama before his speech,1960: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nasser_addressing_Hama.jpg

In Egypt, the 1950s were characterised as a period with mass societal change and a rise in diversified political approaches. During the peak of Cold-War animosity, Egypt, like many Arab states, engaged in a struggle to loosen the grip of imperial control whilst harnessing the support of the US or USSR. In the years to follow, the Egyptian government under Gamal Abdel Nasser orchestrated a nationalisation movement which saw implications for Egypt’s Greek minority, including mass-emigration. To understand the decisions leading to the exodus, we must first anchor ourselves in the early 1900s political climate and discourse that permeated Egypt at that time. Remains of these movements are visible in the Greek-Egyptian political relationship today, and multilateral efforts are being made to combat these challenges. 

Greeks in Egypt – ‘The Aigyptiotes’

Greek-Egyptian ties first propagated during the reign of Alexander the Great via a cultural bricolage and exchange of traditions. Being two major powers in the Mediterranean, Greece and Egypt fostered their relationship for thousands of years, with a large Greek diaspora remaining until the mid 1900s. Cairo and Alexandria became cultural hubs and attracted Hellenes from across the Greek mainland and Anatolia following the Greek Revolution of 1821. More recent migrants sought refuge in Egypt following the Ottoman genocides of Asia Minor Greeks during the early 1900s. Other ethnic communities thrived during this period such as the Italians, Syrians, French, and Jewish, cultivating the cosmopolitan essence of Alexandria. 

Overwhelmingly, Greeks occupied the merchant and professional classes, holding positions as bankers, lawyers, doctors, and architects, among others. There were, of course, working class Greeks too, prominent among those fleeing from Ottoman rule. Under King Farouk, ethnic minorities were socially stratified, their cultural quarters functioning as community-hubs. The neighbourhoods of Tzouonia, Haret el Roum, and Hamzaoui were homes to the Greeks of Cairo. In Alexandria, the Orthodox monastery of Agios Savvas functioned as a town centre, with Greek hospitals, schools, banks, newsagencies, cemeteries, and housing surrounding it. Population growth unsurprisingly proceeded and Egypt’s Greek citizens numbered to over 250,000 by 1940. They truly became woven into the country’s social fabric.

Cemetery of the Greek Orthodox Community in Alexandria. Photographed by Marsupium (2024). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cemetery_of_the_Greek-Orthodox_Egyptian_Community_in_Alexandria_03.jpg

The Pan-Arab Nationalism Movement and its Precipitants

Foreign interference, or meddling, in the Middle East stained relations with Western countries and destroyed hopes to rekindle the positive-turned-sour views that many Arab leaders held. Protectorate politics postured nations such as Egypt into a condition of subordination and reliance on Britain from 1914 to 1921. Extending its grip over military and political scenes, Britain’s involvement sparked discontent among Egyptians. The Suez Canal was a primary interest for the Brits, constituting a strategic geographical trade route that bridged Europe to Asia. Further, the Capitulations, being the policies that kept Europeans exempt from taxes and granted them commercial privileges under an extraterritorial legal system, were in practice until the late 1940s. These were put to an end following the Montreux Convention of 1937. Thus, Europeans held special privileges that elevated their status above the native Egyptian population. This sentiment of superiority was one that permeated even Greek communities, despite their integration into the society.

The Pan-Arabism ideology emerged from the rise of decolonisation rhetoric, embodied in the widespread discontent of Arab nationals. The Arab League (1945) was one of the early attempts to unify the Arab world with nations pledging to cooperate on both military and political fronts. A spearhead in this movement was Gamal Nasser, a socialist who led the 1952 coup d’etat, otherwise known as the Egyptian or ‘Free Officers’ Revolution that toppled the monarchy. Representing a shift away from colonial power dependency, Nasserite Egypt promoted a pro-Soviet orientation and sought to nationalise industries. He further aimed to eliminate feudalism and redistributed agricultural plots via land reforms in response to rising malnourishment and disproportionate wealth. This anti-imperial activity is exemplified in the Anglo-Egyptian Agreement of October 1954 which finalised British withdrawal from the Suez Canal in Nasser’s nationalisation policy. This led to the Suez Canal Crisis of 1956 in which France and Britain backed Israel’s invasion of the Canal to recuperate their economic backbone. 

Nasser signing the Treaty for the Evacuation of British troops from Egypt, 19 October 1956; from a 2006 reprint in Mohamed Shafie Mohamed Yusuf, The Suez Canal. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gamal_Abd_El-Nasser-1956.png

Whilst Nasser’s actions were seemingly unpopular to his neighbours, the Egyptian public received him enthusiastically due to his charismatic demeanour. His acquisition of popular support is a testament to his people-pleasing disposition and participatory authoritarianism. He painted himself as a descendent of Arab heroes of the past, politicised educational apparatuses via modified curriculums to reflect these ‘historical’ events, and essentially moulded the public perception at his will. This made it easier for him to implement widespread policies that impacted many of Egypt’s diasporic communities at large.

The Greek Exodus

Nasser’s nationalisation policies saw benefits for the Egyptian population, however they had dire impacts on ethnic minorities including the Greeks. A major player in this was the 1961 Socialist Laws that intended to dissolve class distinctions. Despite putting an end to the aforementioned cosmopolitan era, the nationalisation of banks, trade, and manufacturing companies effectively made Greeks redundant and many lost their jobs. Many had left Greece decades prior, and since they had not acquired Greek nor Egyptian citizenship, they were rendered stateless. Egypt did not provide citizenship to locally born children with foreign parents. As the Greeks had formed their own communities and cultural centres, they did not have the skills to integrate into a society in which they lacked the privileges they previously enjoyed. Moreover, although Greeks long had a presence in Egypt and mixed with the local communities, the strong anti-foreigner discourse that permeated the 1950s discourse began to create hostile environments. Even with the positive Greek-Egyptian relations that existed, the Nasserite government could not pick and choose who its policies applied to. The Aigyptiotes got caught up in a broader social movement for change and faced the same treatment as all minorities.

From 1952, the Greek population in Egypt dwindled from hundreds of thousands to handfuls. This marked the beginning of what would be known as the ‘Greek Exodus’. Despite forging homes in Cairo and Alexandria, many Greeks were forced to abandon their livelihoods. An estimated 70% of the population left between 1957 and 1962. Emigration destinations included Brazil, Canada, South Africa, the US, and of course, Australia, where they were able to propagate thriving communities. Today, Melbourne is the city with the largest Greek diaspora, in part due to the Pan-Arabism policies implemented in the early 1950s.

Self-supplied.

There were, of course, some Greeks who decided to remain in Egypt. The majority of these individuals, numbering to approximately 3800 today, adopted Egyptian citizenships. The Greek Community of Alexandria retains its cultural imprint however with churches and community buildings reopening in the past decade. 

Remnants of Nasser’s Pan-Arabism Policies Today: On The Ground

Despite Nasser’s passing in 1970, putting an end to his socialist policies, the Pan-Arab doctrine persisted. His successor, Anwar Sadat, took on a more privatised economic approach and oriented himself towards the US, albeit with little headway. Nasser’s ideologies had been so heavily ingrained into Egyptian society that Sadat’s initiatives were met with fierce opposition, and ultimately his assassination. A main outcome of this was the Pan-Arabism movement’s increased affiliation to Islamism, becoming two sides of the same coin. As such, Egypt’s Sunni Muslim population rests at 90% today, marking an 8% increase since 1950.

Treatment of the country’s Christian communities has been dire. Coptics, that is descendents of pre-Islamic Egyptians who follow the Orthodox faith, face persecution and abuses against them on a daily basis. The Muslim government is criticised for their marginalisation of Coptic Christians and lack of disciplinary action on crimes of lynching, scapegoating, and church attacks. This division is extended to other Christian minorities, including the Greek Orthodox, who are most closely aligned in belief with the Copts. Thus, the divisive discourse that once characterised Egypt has evolved from a conversation of nationalism to one of religion.

Multilateral Relations On The Mend

Improvement of diplomatic relations between Greece and Egypt has been a priority during the past decade with an interest in strengthening political, economic, defensive, and cultural fronts. One example of this is Greece’s investment in Egypt’s economic fields including tourism, oil, and banking. Being in close proximity to active areas of conflict, Greece, Egypt, and Cyprus have engaged in cooperative, multilateral operations to ensure the Mediterranean’s stability. The 2017 tripartite initiative, ‘Nostos’, is a further outcome of these alliances. Detailing a trilateral cooperation, this diaspora project is an opportunity to reconnect and ‘return’ Greeks to their roots in Egypt following their displacement in the 1950s. Thus, notwithstanding the nationalist policies that led to the Aigyptiote community’s demise, progression on the international stage is taking place to mend the wounds of the past and foster a stronger relationship than ever before between these two Mediterranean symbiotes.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt in Cairo, 2024: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ursula_von_der_Leyen_in_Cairo,_2024_(26).jpg