Foundation Islamic Union
Yemen
Official Name: Republic of Yemen (RE)
Capital : San'a
Important Cities: Aden, Taiz, Hodeidah, Makalla, Hadramevt.
Area: 527,968 km2
Population : 33,282,000 (2021)[1]. 25 per cent of the population lives in cities.
Ethnicity: In Yemen, 97.3 per cent of the population is Arab. The remaining population consists of South Asians 1%, Somalis 1.2%, Malays 0.2% and Jews 0.04%.
Language: The official language and the language spoken by the general population is Arabic.
Religion: The official religion is Islam. 99 per cent of the population is Muslim. Jews and members of eastern religions constitute 1% of the population. 55% of the Muslims are Sunnites and 45% are Zaydis.
Geographical Situation: Located at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula facing Africa, Yemen is surrounded by Saudi Arabia from the north, Oman from the east, the Indian Ocean from the south and the Red Sea from the west. One per cent of its land is agricultural land and nearly 40 per cent is grassland. Yemen is dominated by an arid climate. The northern part receives more rain than the south.
Mode of Government: A republican regime based on a multi-party democratic system. During the transition period, which constituted the unification of the two Yemenis, the presidency was held by the former president of North Yemen, the vice-presidency by the former secretary-general of the Socialist Party of South Yemen and the prime ministership by the former head of state of South Yemen. After the end of the transitional period, elections were held and a 301-member parliament was formed. However, the united structure could not be preserved due to the civil war that broke out.
International Organisations: It is a member of international organisations such as UN, OIC[2], League of Arab States, IMF, Islamic Development Bank.
Political Parties: General People's Congress: The party of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Before the unification, it held power in North Yemen. After the unification, it became the first party of the coalition. This party, which has a liberal approach, won 122 seats in the parliament and became the first party in the 27 April 1993 elections held after the merger. It publishes two periodicals, al-Misak and 22 May. Yemen Islah Union: The leader of this party, which has an Islamic understanding, is Abdullah ibn Huseyn al-Ahmer. This party, which is particularly effective among university youth and women, won 63 seats in the elections of 27 April 1993 and became the second party. Arab Socialist Baath Party: Defends the Baathist ideology dominant in Iraq. Its leader is Qasim Salam. While its membership does not exceed a few thousand, it has gained an influential position by taking advantage of its foreign support and Iraq-Yemen relations. It publishes a publication called al-Jamahir.
History: Islam entered Yemen during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.). When the Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) established the Islamic state in Medina, Yemen was under Iranian influence and the Iranians had appointed a person named Bâzân as the governor of Yemen at that time. This person, who was originally from Iran, became a Muslim at the invitation of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) and the Islamic state kept him in the governorship of Yemen. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.) also invited Hazrat Ali (r.a.) in the year 9 AH. 9, he sent Hazrat Ali (r.a.) to Yemen to invite its people to Islam. The invitation of Hazrat Ali (r.a.) was effective and the people of Yemen converted to Islam in masses. During the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.), a person named Abhala al-Aswad al-Ansi claimed prophethood in Yemen and succeeded in gathering his tribe around him. He occupied a significant part of Yemen with the people he gathered around him. He was later killed in a conspiracy organised by some of his relatives and a woman named Merzabâna, whom he had taken as his wife by force. Yemen was ruled by governors sent by the caliph until 820. The history of Yemen after 820 is somewhat complicated. The Najjahis ruled in some parts of Yemen until 1159, subject to the Abbasids, Seljuks and Fatimids respectively. The reign of the Sulayhis, who were subject to the Fatimids and adopted Shiism, lasted until 1099. In 1099, the Hemdanid rule was established in San'a and its surroundings. Subjugated to the Fatimids, Seljuks and Ayyubids respectively, the Hamanid rule survived until 1174. The majority of the Hamanids were Zaidis and some of them belonged to the Ismailiyya Shia. The reign of the Mahdis, who were Kharijites, lasted until 1174. The Mahdis were first subject to the Fatimids and then to the Ayyubids.
Ottoman Rule: When the Ottoman Sultan Yavuz Sultan Selim conquered Egypt and became the caliph, Yemen joined the Ottoman lands. Taiz was conquered in 1545 and San'a in 1547 and Ottoman rule was established in Yemen. In 1635, Zaidi imams revolted and took over the administration. In the 19th century, as British and French influence in the Arabian peninsula increased, the Ottoman sultans became interested in Yemen again. Ottoman forces conquered Sana'a in 1872. The 7th Army was established in Yemen. However, this time the Zaydis (Imam Yahya) co-operated with the British and took back Sana'a in 1905. They took back Sana'a. The Ottoman government sent an army of 45.000 men under the command of Müşir Fevzi Pasha (Field Marshal) to Yemen. The Ottoman army fought in very difficult conditions and suffered great losses, and retook Sana'a, but Imam Yahya was saved. The uprisings of the Zaydis continued and when the Turkish garrison in Yemen surrendered to the British in 1918 in accordance with the Mudros Armistice Treaty, Imam Yahya declared his independence.
After his assassination, his son Ahmed took over the sultanate. When he abdicated on 18 September 1962, his son Seyfulislâm succeeded him. Seyfulislâm could only stay on the throne for nine days and was deposed in a coup d'état on 27 September 1962 and the republican regime was proclaimed and Abdus Salal was made president. However, this event plunged the country into civil war, which lasted until 1967, when Imam Seyful Islam abdicated the sultanate completely. On 5 November 1967, Qadi Abdurrahman Iryani was elected president. His rule lasted until June 1974. Ibrahim Hamdani succeeded him and remained in office until 6 February 1978. On 6 February 1978, Ali Abdullah Saleh assumed the presidency. South Yemen remained under British occupation until 30 November 1967. On this date, South Yemen gained its independence and became a separate state from North Yemen, with Sa'bani as its first president. Sa'bani was overthrown in a communist coup d'état on 22 June 1969 and his powers were assumed by a presidential council of five. South Yemen, the first communist state in the Arab world, was renamed the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen on 30 November 1970. Saalim Rubai Ali also became head of state. Ali Nasser Mohamed was appointed head of state in 1978. In December of the same year, Abdul Fattah Ismail, secretary general of the Socialist Party, became president. In 1980, Ali Nasser Mohamed became president again. On 12 January 1986, an armed clash broke out between the communists and the supporters of Ali Nasser Mohammed were defeated. After these events, Haider Abu Bakr al-Attas became head of state and Ali Sa'im al-Bayd became secretary-general of the ruling Socialist Party. The two Yemenis signed a merger agreement in April 1990, which led to unification on 22 May 1990. The agreement stipulated a transitional period until 22 November 1992, at the end of which time elections would be held and the post-transitional administrative mechanism would be determined according to the results of these elections. The president of the united Yemen during the transitional period was to be Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president of North Yemen; the vice-president was to be Ali Salim al-Beyd, the leader of the Socialist Party of South Yemen; and the prime minister was to be Haydar Abu Bakr al-Attas, the president of South Yemen.The accusations that followed these events escalated into armed conflict on 20 February 1994 and Yemen was plunged into a new civil war. On 12 May 1994, South Yemen declared its independence from the North, but North Yemen's rulers refused to accept this and intensified their attacks on rebel South Yemeni troop positions. In early July 1994, they captured Aden, the capital of South Yemen, and brought all of Yemen under their rule.[3]
Internal Problems: The most important internal problem of Yemen is the civil war caused by the inability to unite in real terms and some personal ambitions.
External Problems: Yemen's siding with Iraq in the Gulf War caused it to be left alone by the Arab countries acting together with the USA in this war. In particular, the Saudi Arabian government openly took the front against Yemen and dismissed and deported one million Yemenis working in its territory without paying any compensation. This practice put Yemen in serious economic difficulties. Not content with this, the Saudi Arabian government made some political attempts to isolate Yemen from the Arab world. Seeing the unification of the two Yemenis as a threat to itself, Saudi Arabia fuelled the civil war in this country. The fact that the leader of the Socialist Party had visited Saudi Arabia and some Gulf countries before the civil war proved that these reports were not unfounded.
Islamism in the country: In Yemen, 55% of the Muslims belong to the Zaydiyya sect, the sect of Shiism closest to Ahl al-Sunnah. Zaydis have a special hierarchical system. They too have an imam at their head. However, the system of imamate in Zaydis is different from that of Ja'faris. Unlike the Ja'faris, the Zaydis also do not oppose the caliphate of Hazrat Abu Bakr (r.a.) and Hazrat Umar (r.a.). They only oppose the caliphate of Hazrat Uthman (r.a.) and assert that the right of caliphate after Hazrat Umar (r.a.) belongs to Hazrat Ali (r.a.). In addition, Zaydis do not object to being subjected to Sunni rule. One of the leading movements trying to make Islam dominant in the state in Yemen is the Yemen Islah Union, which can be considered as the extension of the Muslim Brotherhood in this country. This movement became a political party in September 1990.
Economy: Yemen's economy is based on agriculture and animal husbandry. The share of income from agricultural products in gross domestic product is 21%. 71.5% of the working population is employed in agriculture. The main agricultural products are cereals, cotton, dates, bananas, millet, coffee and various fruits and vegetables. In North Yemen, an average of 65 thousand tonnes of salt is produced annually. Oil and natural gas are also extracted in South Yemen.
Currency: Yemeni Riyal.
National Income per Capita: 585 USD[4].
Foreign Trade: The main exports are crude oil, natural gas (89% of exports), live animals, dates, coffee and various agricultural products. Imports include transport equipment, machinery, defence equipment, electrical and electronic equipment and some foodstuffs. Foreign trade is mostly with the USA, Japan, European Union countries, Gulf countries and Sudan.
Industry: There are oil facilities in South Yemen. Foodstuffs, soft drinks and cigarette production facilities are the main industrial establishments. These facilities constitute 52% of all industrial establishments. In addition, there are many medium and small industrial establishments in textiles, clothing, leather processing, woodworking, furniture, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, earthenware, construction materials and metals. The share of industrial income in gross domestic product is 9 per cent. 4.4% of the working population is employed in the industrial sector.
Energy: All electricity is obtained from thermal power plants. Annual electricity consumption per capita is 145 kw/hour on average.
Transportation: There are 12 airports with scheduled flights, of which the ones in Sana'a and Aden are open to international traffic. Hodeidah and Aden have one large harbour used for import and export. There are also small harbours in other coastal cities. It has 51.500 km. of motorways. In this country, there is one motorised transport vehicle for 29 people on average.
Health: Yemen has 75 hospitals, 3010 doctors, 150 dentists, 6500 nurses. There is one doctor for 4160 people.
Education:
Administrative Division: It consists of 17 provinces.
When we think of Yemen, two important events come to mind. One of them is Veysel Karani, one of the wise servants of Allah (swt), who came to Medina-i Munawwara by crossing the deserts from Yemen provinces and burned with the love of the Prophet (s.a.s.)... The other one is the Yemen wars in our recent history where thousands of Muslim Turkish sons were martyred while fighting.[5]
South Yemen: British colonialism created a very different society from this country. Because after the occupation of Aden by the British in 1839, they ruled 23 sheikhdoms until independence, provided that they were independent in internal affairs.
After independence, the rulers of the country followed a pro-Soviet attitude. In South Yemen, where crops such as cotton, dates, bananas and millet are grown, mining and industry are weak.
Unification of the Two Yemen: North Yemen started to extract oil from the Marib al-Jawf region near the border with South Yemen in 1987 and increased its daily oil production to 200,000 barrels two years later. On 18 August 1989, South Yemen and North Yemen agreed to jointly explore the oil region. This agreement was the first step towards unification. On 22 May 1990, the two countries were officially united and the Republic of Yemen was established.
Civil War in Yemen: The Muslim Eritreans were on the northwest side of the Babu'l-Mendeb Strait, which was the crossing point of the Red Sea Waterway, and Muslim Yemen was on the east side. If these political developments in Yemen could not be prevented, the control of the world's most important waterway was likely to fall into the hands of the Islamic world. Egypt had been through a lot because of the Suez Canal. Sanctions such as the British controlling the territory on the Spanish side of the Strait of Gibraltar and the Spanish controlling the territory on the Moroccan side, and Morocco not being able to claim any rights through this strait, were all aimed at keeping the Great Waterway under control. Since the late Ottoman period, Britain and the United States had captured the key points of the world.
Looking at the brands of weapons used in the Yemeni civil war, it is not difficult to understand who is directing the war. As long as Islamic countries remain silent and Yemenis still have a tribal mentality, Yemen will be divided into two or three[6]
