Baltagiya
Sign in to savethumb|Baltagy Baltagiya or Baltageya ( ) is an Egyptian slang word that generally means "goons", "thugs", "gangsters" or "criminals", who are hired to attack the political opposition or civic protesters. Meanwhile, "Baltaga" ( ), that etymologically derives from the Turkish word "baltacı" signifying an axeman, means doing harm or participating in collusion against someone or some people. Nonpolitical Baltagiya gangs appeared in Egypt in the 1980s; in the 1990s the Egyptian police decided to hire them, "outsourcing coercion to these Baltagiya, paying them well and training them to use sexualize
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10 sectionsContents
- Recent history
- Notable Baltagiya
- Sabry Nakhnoukh
- Sayed Al Esawy
- The notorious auxiliary [[Camel cavalry#Modern era|camel riders]]
- Weaponry
- In media
- Research
- See also
- References
thumb|Baltagy Baltagiya or Baltageya ( ) is an Egyptian slang word that generally means "goons", "thugs", "gangsters" or "criminals", who are hired to attack the political opposition or civic protesters. Meanwhile, "Baltaga" ( ), that etymologically derives from the Turkish word "baltacı" signifying an axeman, means doing harm or participating in collusion against someone or some people. Nonpolitical Baltagiya gangs appeared in Egypt in the 1980s; in the 1990s the Egyptian police decided to hire them, "outsourcing coercion to these Baltagiya, paying them well and training them to use sexualized brutality (from groping to gang rape) in order to punish and deter female protesters and male detainees, alike".
==Recent history== A scholar from Cambridge University estimated in 2011 that during Mubarak’s reign, the police informally employed 1.5 million Baltagy and informers.