Some world leaders are choosing their words very carefully when discussing the ouster of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi on Wednesday, with the descriptions of what happened ranging from a "coup" to a "military intervention," depending on who you're speaking with -- and who they support.
Morsi, the nation's first democratically elected president, was dismissed by the Egyptian army Wednesday after weeks of massive protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square. By Thursday morning, Adly Mansour, chief justice of Egypt's supreme court, had already been sworn in as Egypt's interim president.
But whether or not the military’s decision to remove Morsi was a coup d'etat is an important question that remains to be answered.
"I would think the majority of the Egyptian people believe it's a military intervention because of the way it started -- it started with the rebel campaign which was basically a popular movement to bring the people onto the streets and they succeeded," said Dina El Wakil, an Egyptian who spoke to Canada AM after taking part in the protests along with millions of other Egyptians.
El Wakil said the military only stepped in after giving Morsi a 48-hour deadline to answer Egyptians' demands for his departure.
Instead of stepping down on his own, however, a defiant Morsi refused to go, saying the deadline represented a "military coup," according to a presidential aide.
"The country did come under threat and so military intervention was necessary, unfortunately. We don't believe it's a coup we think it was started by the people and for the people," El Wakil said.
After his dismissal, Morsi tweeted from the official presidential account that he had been the victim of a "full coup." The military rejected that, saying the government doesn't carry out coups, but instead "always stands by the will and aspirations of the glorious Egyptian people for change and reform."
The Americans, for their part, stopped short of calling the transition a coup -- which would have meant the U.S. could not publicly support the movement to oust Morsi or to provide funding to the country after his removal.
Under U.S. law, the government must suspend foreign aid to any nation whose elected leader is ousted in a coup. The U.S. provides $1.5 billion a year to Egypt in military and economic assistance.
The Oxford dictionary describes a coup, or coup d'etat, simply as "a sudden change of government that is illegal and often violent."
U.S. President Barack Obama urged the Egyptian military on Thursday to hand back control to a "democratically elected civilian government" as soon as possible.
He also said he was ordering the U.S. government to assess what the latest developments mean for U.S. foreign aid to Egypt.
A spokesperson for Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird issued a statement Wednesday evening with a similar message, but which described the situation as a "coup."
"Canada urges all parties in Egypt to remain calm, avoid violence and engage in meaningful dialogue," said a statement posted on the Foreign Affairs website. The statement was titled "Canada Calls for Calm after Egyptian Coup."
"Canada firmly believes that implementing a transparent democratic system that respects the voices of its citizens, and that encourages and respects the contributions of civil society and all other segments of the population, including religious minorities, is the best way to restore calm and give all Egyptians a stake in the future stability and prosperity of Egypt."
Regardless of whether the military action can be described as a coup, Wakil said it represents a major victory for the Egyptian people.
"I haven't seen the Egyptian people this excited and this united in a very, very long time. You had all segments of society in Tahrir -- women, children, doctors, the poor, everything, it was a lovely mix of people and people are excited and they're hopeful.
“Yes, there's a lot of worry but the general sense is a lot of hope that we're finally back on track and the revolution’s demands may finally be met," she said.
