L-r Sherif Gad, Aleksey Tevanyan, Hanan Mounib and Mohamed Salama (Photo: Ayman Barayez)
The Russian Cultural Centre in Cairo honoured during a ceremony on 14 October the memory of late Russian politician, academician, and prime minister Yevgeny Primakov by unveiling a bust of the Russian statesman created by Egyptian artist Mohamed Thabet.
The initiative to create the bust was launched by director of the Russian Cultural Centre in Cairo Aleksey Tevanyan.
Primakov (1929 – 2015) was considered a friend of Egypt and was a political expert who played a crucial role in shaping Russian-Arab relations for several years.
The unveiling ceremony for the bust, which has been placed at the entrance of the Russian Centre, was attended by Tevanyan, the president of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, Russian Ambassador to Cairo Sergei Kravchenko, and director of the Cultural Activity Programme at the Russian Centre Sherif Gad.
(L-r) Director of the Russian Cultural Centre Aleksey Tevanyan and President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov (Photo: Ayman Barayez)
Also present at the event were former under-secretary for foreign cultural relations at the Ministry of Culture Hanan Mounib and researcher in Egyptian-Russian relations Mohamed Salama.
The celebration also marked the 75th anniversary of the start of Russian-Egyptian diplomatic relations.
Primakov was one of the designers of Soviet and Russian foreign policy for many years.
He also worked in Egypt, which he loved, for many years. He had many Egyptian friends and represented Russia in talks with Arab leaders including Anwar El-Sadat of Egypt, King Hussein of Jordan, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, Yasser Arafat of Palestine, Hafez Al-Assad of Syria and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya.
Primakov wrote books including ‘The Secret Scenes of the Middle East’ and ‘Egypt in the Age of President Abdel-Nasser,’ in addition to many documents that have not been published.
The bust of Former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov (Photo: Ayman Barayez)
It was he who conveyed to President Abdel-Nasser the decision of the Soviet Union to support Egypt indefinitely after its defeat against Israel in 1967.
Primakov also occupied several posts including correspondent of the Soviet newspaper Pravda in Cairo, deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper, director of the Institute of Economics and International Relations of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, head of Russian intelligence service, foreign minister, MP, and prime minister of Russia.
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