Moataz Matar, Egyptian TV host, has announced that his programme on Al-Sharq channel, which broadcasts from Turkey, will be suspended, which sparked a campaign of solidarity and sympathy on social media.

Opponent activists launched a hashtag entitled solidarity with Nasser and Moataz. It topped the list of the most popular hashtags on Twitter in Egypt.

Moataz Matar announced his programme’s official suspension, which is broadcast on the Al-Sharq channel that broadcasts from Turkey. The same was announced of his colleague Muhammad Nasser, who works for Mekameleen channel.

Matar said during the Saturday episode of his programme, I am on open leave, and our duty is not to burden Turkey at all because it endured a lot over the course of seven years. Matar confirmed that he would continue broadcasting his programme on social media platforms, calling on his followers to follow his pages and accounts on those platforms to learn more.

The two programmes’ suspension came a day after the news was circulated that Egypt had suspended security contacts and talks with Turkey again. Cairo attributed this to Turkey’s slow withdrawal of its forces from Libya and the failure to close Brotherhood channels. The news was not surprising to some who circulated two weeks ago news of the closure of Brotherhood channels opposing the Al-Sisi regime in Turkey as part of the Egyptian-Turkish reconciliation.

Egyptian dissident Ayman Nour, head of the Turkish-based Al Sharq channel, considered this a transient crisis, indicating that he would return soon. Nour said on Twitter: “We were brought together by the cruelty of alienation and the brutality of tyrants, and a transient crisis will not separate us. The East will continue as a platform for freedom, a voice of truth and hope, and Mu’taz will soon return to the East.”