Ayman Nour started his career as a journalist for Egyptian newspaper Al-Wafd, the leading opposition newspaper throughout the years of Hosni Mubarak's rule. He was also a well-known lawyer and then became a famous liberal politician despite his young age at the time. In the 2005 Egyptian presidential election he ran against Mubarak and received about 500,000 votes, which is not a small number compared to the number of those who participated in the election, the first of its kind in the history of Egypt.He was imprisoned several times during Mubarak's rule and participated from the very beginning of the Jan. 25 revolution. Nour acted in many roles during military rule and then under deposed president Mohammed Morsi. He opposed the military coup on July 3, 2013 and became an opposition force to the current president who led the coup, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. He traveled to Lebanon in the early days after the coup and stayed there until he says he received assassination threats. Nour has since decided to stay in Turkey. Daily Sabah interviewed him about the assassination threats, the latest situation in Egypt, his projects in Turkey and the relations between the Egyptian military and Sissi.You left Lebanon after two years of living there. Why? Are you going to reside in Turkey? Are you, in fact, in Turkey to oversee political action?Generally, I am always mentally and emotionally present in Egypt, as for my physical presence, it can be in Lebanon or any other place. During my time in Lebanon, I used to travel a lot to other countries to meet with other figures related to the situation in Egypt. But in the past few days, a colonel in the Lebanese army intelligence called me, his name is Joseph Ghantous. It was the first time military personnel called me directly. He asked to visit me at home, and when I received him he told me: "We have confirmed information that your life is in danger and there is a plot to assassinate you." I asked him what the source of the threat was, so he made a phone call and then I understood that it is one of his leaders. He then turned to tell me that one of his leaders was telling me: "You know who wants to assassinate you." So I made it clear to him that if el-Sissi wanted to arrest me, he certainly has a list of 99 names that come before mine currently in Turkey, Qatar, or elsewhere. So Colonel Ghantous told me that it seems that these arrests are not possible in Qatar or Turkey, "so we want to extend our warning to you here in Lebanon." And I had recently read several articles in Egyptian newspapers loyal to el-Sissi explicitly calling for the killing of political opponents anywhere in the world. A week before Colonel Ghantous visited me, I was caught in a situation that I hadn't given much thought to. While I was traveling in my car with some companions from Beirut to the area I live, a lazer beam was pointed at us and then at the car. One of my companions noticed it, but the incident did not raise my concerns at the time but in the framework of the general situation, it became clear to me that the threat of assassination is serious. Based on that, I informed the Lebanese authorities of my intentions to leave the country but I did not announce my situation. What is your agenda in Turkey?Turkey is a new chance for me to meet with camps rejecting the coup, exactly as when I was in Lebanon and able to communicate with revolutionary camp symbols. And I actually made significant attempts to bridge the gap between views of rejecting the coup and pro-democracy parties, and we did make noticeable progress on this front. Also in Turkey we have the project to establish "The Arab Council of the Defense of Revolutions and Democracy," which also includes each of the former Tunisian presidents, Dr. El Moncef El Marzouky and his deputy Emad ElDaemy, a Nobel-Peace Prize winning Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman, and President of the Government of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces Dr. Ahmad Touma, all of this because Istanbul is central in all Arab files.Speaking of targeted assassinations and el-Sissi's intentions in Egypt, there is little talk besides the death sentences of former president Dr. Mohamed Morsi and a number of leading Muslim Brotherhood members. Do you expect el-Sissi to execute Morsi?El-Sissi very much wants to shed the blood of Dr. Morsi. But I think that the rumors about the time of the execution and that it may be during Eid, in my opinion, are not accurate and not legally correct. It is true, Egypt doesn't have laws at the moment, but the idea is that Morsi's execution is legally classified as a murder with premeditation, because the verdict issued sentencing Dr. Morsi to death is not a final ruling. It is also true that Dr. Morsi did not appeal the death sentence, but the response to this is that Egyptian law makes it imperative that the public prosecution moves the appeal. My opinion is that the execution of Morsi is certainly a goal of el-Sissi, but if it happens, it probably won't be for another few months.Now, who stands with el-Sissi regionally and internationally? Movements, parties, and many figures used to stand with el-Sissi, but el-Sissi's front is crumbling now. There are regional powers deceived by el-Sissi who endorse him but are now beginning to wake up and discover an absurd person and dangerous being for the region and that el-Sissi is moved by feelings and concerns that will lead to the destruction of Egypt and throughout the region. Sisi has currently failed to establish any real partnership with Egyptian political forces, even those that supported the June 30 protests in 2013 to overthrow Morsi, those who supported the July 3 coup, and even those who rallied on July 26, 2013. Sisi sees himself as a demigod and as someone who has received revelations from heaven, and these are all symptoms of a disease. This man, like all lonely dictators with this disease, is no different to Nero who burned Rome. el-Sissi is setting himself and everyone around him and against him in his country and the region on fire. Has he become a burden on the international and regional parties that were supportive before?El-Sissi from the beginning is a great burden and the supportive parties viewed it as burden with potential. But now, he is not tolerated because he hasn't dealt rationally with aid received from different countries and has employed this aid to the detriment of Egypt. The biggest proof of that is the law, which was issued two days ago and gave the intelligence and security services the right to form security companies, which explains that it gave a lot of money to some sectors in the country to buy them. But now, halted aid opens the door to invest and tells those entities "Save yourselves." This also confirms that in the light of severe budget deficits in Egypt, el-Sissi cannot continue directing money to the bodies that supported him in the coup. From here, it will turn the loyalty he purchased into free enemies. But what is important now is our role as a camp supporting democracy in accommodating this emerging alliance as parties and those are beginning to give up on Sisi now. The next stage is the stage of change and Sisi is alone in his backwards case, which is a curve that continues to decline.Is the Military Council among those who have begun to give up on el-Sissi?I believe that the army is a national institution, no matter how we disagree with it, and whatever the crisis is between us, it is an important figure in any future political equation. I see now that the army and the military council have started to distance themselves from el-Sissi, and this distance has begun to widen. I am not claiming a military coup or something like that, but I am calling for all state institutions to engage in a community dialogue to draw borders between the institutions and the future of the relationships between them.What indicators make you say that the army has begun to move away from el-Sissi?The news over the past few weeks confirm that there are meetings and high-level encounters that have taken place in el-Sissi's absence and show that el-Sissi has become nervous. There are also figures that used to belong to the army carrying out international and regional moves, looking for el-Sissi's replacement. The man is big trouble and everyone wants to get rid of him. The man's role is about to end.In Libya now, there are attempts to impose a political solution and a truce between the various forces and this is the opposite of what el-Sissi wanted according to political and media reports. General Khalifa Haftar is currently in Egypt to meet with el-Sissi and request new support. Does this calming reflect the Western conviction that it must stop the Sisi agenda in Libya?The international community faced el-Sissi for successive blows in Libya, and while el-Sissi believes he is a doctor of philosophy or philosopher of doctors as he put it, and that the whole world cares about his opinion, we find that the international community hasn't taken his opinion on board about anything, and that the man is carrying his dignity more than any other person can bear to. Compare, for example, el-Sissi's position in Libya and Algeria's position. It can be said that what Sisi did in Libya is a serious fail overall. El-Sissi doesn't have anyone besides a small group of stakeholders.In regards to many people who believe what el-Sissi is doing in Sinai has no political objective and those who believe it is to serve the interests of Israel and the West, what do you think?I think what is happening in Sinai is a recurring failure, and this is in itself a conspiracy. El-Sissi follows the same policies, takes the same steps, and expects different results, and the result of this is that Sinai has transformed into, after long decades, merely a security file.Do you really see the difference in the current period between el-Sissi and the big business men known as men of the president who stopped the January revolution, Hosni Mubarak?El-Sissi worships el-Sissi and doesn't like to be associated with anyone. The good citizen, according to him, is he who worships him. What happened is that Mubarak's men punished el-Sissi in the presidential election with the lack of crowd and votes. And here we must say that Mubarak's regime did not die, but will not be back. What happened between the men of former presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat from the seventies of the last century, I expect to be repeated between el-Sissi's men soon.Now let's move on to talking about the Egyptian opposition abroad and within Egypt. What can Ayman Noor bring to the performance of the opposition?I'm a believer that our role is to look for commonalities among us, and I think the most important of them are the decisions and benefits of the January revolution and the return of democracy, for Egypt is bigger than all of us, and el-Sissi, and Morsi, too. There must also be a dialogue between the state, its institutions, and the opposition. I'm liberal but I'm not opposed to religion. I see that supporters of Islamic and liberal politics have made mistakes in Egypt. We must build a broad framework that accommodates all the January revolution participants, without discrimination between Islamic and secular, or even between those who came out on June 30, and this situation's causes and conditions are very available during this period. I am also a believer that violence is the real danger and is what extends el-Sissi's political life.Are you among those who believe that el-Sissi is behind some of the recent violence?In the current environment, such possibilities are open.Is Egypt right now in a state of revolution?The revolution started on January 25 in 2011 and won't stop until it reaches its goals.If el-Sissi believes as he does, is there a possibility to find a political solution in Egypt?El-Sissi is part of the crisis and his survival means survival of the conflict. As long as corruption lasts, there is no solution.On the other hand, some believe that holding onto the condition that Dr. Morsi return to presidency is an important benefit. What do you think?I believe that he must engage in dialogue without any preconditions, and what is needed now is a full return to the right path, which is the democratic path, which should return to the people who should choose and decide and the issue of legitimacy is renewed.