Foundation Islamic Union
Eritrea
Official Name: Republic of Eritrea (ER)
Capital city : Asmara
Important Cities: Keren, Akordat, Mitsiva, Assab, Nakta. 10 administrative regions
Area: 117,600 km2
Population : 3,546,000 (2020).[1] 15% of the population lives in cities.
Number of People Per Km2: 29
Population Growth Rate: 3,1
Average Human Lifespan: 59 Years
Ethnicity: The largest ethnic group is the Tigrinati, who make up about 48 per cent of the population. The vast majority of them are Christians. They speak a language called Tigrinya language. The second largest ethnic group is the Tigres, who make up 31% of the population. All Tigreans are Muslims. The Tigrean language they speak is close to Tigrinya language. The third largest ethnic group is Afars, which constitute 4.3% of the population. All Afars are also Muslims.
Language: The official language is Arabic and Tigrinya.
Religion: According to official statistics, 55% of the population is Muslim. All of the Muslims are Sunni. The remaining population is Christian and mostly Orthodox.
Geographical Situation: Eritrea, an east African country, is surrounded by the Red Sea from the east, Djibouti from the south, Ethiopia from the south-west, and Sudan from the north and north-west. It has several rivers, especially Baraka, which dry up in hot periods. Approximately 11% of its territory is agricultural land, 30% is grassland and 4% is forested. There are arable lands on the Red Sea coast. Western regions are relatively mountainous.
Mode of Government: Since it is a newly independent country, it does not have an established form and order of government. A transition period administration has been established. The Eritrean People's Liberation Front, which has adopted a socialist and westernist approach, has a say in this administration. This is due to the fact that Western countries and Israel actually supported and armed this organisation after the weakening of the communist regime in Ethiopia. A constitution that determines the exact form of the country's administration and the powers of individuals and institutions has not yet been put forward. Those who have a say in the administration exercise their powers according to the provisions in the declarations issued by the interim administration. These declarations emphasise that the republican regime will prevail in the country. The head of state and government is the head of the provisional Council of State. After independence, a 60-person national assembly was formed and the leader of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, Isiyas Afeverki of Christian origin, was appointed as the president of this assembly. In addition, a 24-person state council was formed, 12 of Christian and 12 of Muslim origin. The establishment of a multi-party democratic system was postponed due to the transition process. Admitted to membership of the UN and the Organisation of African Unity.
Political Parties: None.
History: The history of Islam in Eritrea dates back to the time of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.s.). As a result of the refuge of some Muslims fleeing from the persecution of the Meccan polytheists to Abyssinia, the people living in the regions under the rule of the Abyssinian kingdom were introduced to Islam and many people especially in the Eritrean region became Muslims. Eritrea, which was connected to the Islamic caliphate during the Umayyad period and then subject to the Abbasid caliphate, was subject to the Ottoman state between 1557 and 1885. It was occupied by the Italians in 1885. When the Italians were defeated in World War II, Eritrea fell into the hands of British colonisers. In 1946, the people of Eritrea began to struggle at the UN and through other channels for the colonisers to leave their homeland. This struggle was led by the Islamic Unity (Râbıta) Party led by Sheikh Ibrahim Sultan Ali. However, the Christian Eritreans, instigated by some colonial powers, declared that they wanted to unite with Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Although the Muslims, who constituted 70% of the Eritrean people at that time, wanted independence, the UN organisation took into account the wishes of the Christian Eritreans and issued a resolution 390, which envisaged the unification of Eritrea with Abyssinia. However, the Eritrean Liberation Front, formed to organise Eritrea's struggle for independence and led by Hamid Idris Avati, did not recognise the UN resolution and started a de facto struggle in 1961. On the other hand, the kingdom of Abyssinia announced in 1962 that it annexed Eritrean territory to its own territory based on the UN resolution. Despite this unjust decision of the Abyssinian kingdom, the Eritrean Liberation Front, whose leader and fighters were both Muslims, continued the armed struggle. Christian Eritreans, on the other hand, were assisting the Ethiopian army against the struggle for independence. After 1975, Eritrean Christians changed their methods and started to infiltrate the Eritrean Liberation Front. When the real aims of the Christians, who were specially trained by the USA and Israel and called themselves commandos, were revealed, the Eritrean Liberation Front began to liquidate them. This time they formed a separate organisation called the Eritrean People's Liberation Front. This organisation started to fight against the Eritrean Liberation Front and to take over the territories it had captured. Various Western countries, notably the USA and Israel, supported the organisation with arms and money. These countries provided arms to the Eritrean People's Liberation Front as "humanitarian aid". Some communist countries, notably Cuba, have also sent troops to Eritrea to fight alongside the guerrillas of the said organisation. The militants of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front were committing severe atrocities against the Muslims in the areas they captured, confiscating their assets and even abusing women. Not only that, they forbade living according to the principles of Islam in the areas they captured. On the other hand, they occasionally held secret meetings with the rulers who overthrew the kingdom regime in Abyssinia in 1974 and replaced it with a communist regime and changed the name of the country to Socialist Ethiopia. As the communist regime in Ethiopia began to weaken, the aid and support of the colonial powers and especially Israel to the Eritrean People's Liberation Front increased. In early 1991, upon the collapse of the communist regime in Ethiopia and the seizure of power by the Ethiopian Revolutionary Democratic People's Front, in May of the same year, guerrillas of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front captured Asmara, the capital of Eritrean territory, ending Ethiopian domination over this region. An interim Eritrean government was formed after this event. Then, in the referendum held on 23-25 April 1993, Eritrea's independence was declared on 24 May 1993 after 98% of the 1 million 18 thousand people registered in the electoral rolls voted and 99.8% of them voted for independence. After independence, a 4-year transitional government was formed, whose members were generally members of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front. The Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement, which played an effective role in the struggle for independence, remained outside the administration. Upon this situation, the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement took a stand against the transitional government and decided to continue the struggle for the preservation of Eritrea's Islamic identity.[2]
Internal Problems: Although Eritrea became independent from Ethiopia, the monopolisation of the administration by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front after independence and the elimination of the Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement, which played an active role in the struggle for independence, led to an internal struggle. The Eritrean Islamic Jihad Movement decided to continue the armed struggle against the monopolisation of the country's administration by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front, which has a socialist and westernist understanding and has close relations with Israel, does not allow for pluralism, and does not allow different political tendencies to establish political parties to represent themselves under the pretext of the transition process. According to official data, the Muslim mass, which constitutes more than half of the Eritrean population, is also uncomfortable with the monopolisation of the state administration by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front.
Dış Problemleri: Etyopya yönetimi Eritre’nin bağımsızlığını tanıdığından bu ülkeyle artık önemli bir problemi bulunmamaktadır. Eritre’nin bağımsızlık mücadelesine büyük destek veren ve çok sayıda Eritreli mülteciyi barındıran Sudan yönetimi ise Eritre’deki yeni yönetimle iyi ilişkiler kurma çabası içindedir. Ancak Eritre’deki yeni yönetimin İsrail’le sıkı diplomatik ilişkiler içine girmesinden de rahatsız olmaktadır.
Ülkede İslâmiyet: Eritre’deki bağımsızlık mücadelesi İslâmî anlayış sahibi kişilerin öncülüğünde başlatılmıştır. Ancak zaman içerisinde dış güçlerin oyunları ve müdahaleleri sonucunda İslâm’dan uzak kişiler bağımsızlık mücadelesinde etkin rol oynayan örgütlere sızmışlardır. Başlangıçta İslâmî bir çizgide olan Eritre Kurtuluş Cephesi’nin liderliğini sol görüşlü Abdullah İdris Muhammed’in ele geçirmesi üzerine örgütün çizgisi değişti. Bunun üzerine İslâmî anlayış sahipleri bu örgütten ayrılarak başka örgütler oluşturma gereği duydular. Bugün Eritre’deki İslâmî mücadelenin başını 2 Aralık 1988’de kurulan Eritre İslâmî Cihad Hareketi çekmektedir. Bu hareket daha önce Eritre Kurtuluş Cephesi’nden ayrılarak değişik gruplar oluşturan İslâmî anlayış sahiplerini bir araya getirmiştir. İslâmî Cihad Hareketi kuruluşundan sonra hem Eritre Halk Kurtuluş Cephesi’nin militanlarıyla hem de Etyopya askerleriyle mücadele etmek zorunda kaldı. Ancak Eritre Halk Kurtuluş Cephesi’nin sömürgeci güçlerce desteklenmesi ve Etyopya’daki komünist rejimin yıkılmasından sonra yönetimi ele alanların bu örgütle işbirliği yapmaları İslâmî Cihad Hareketi’nin saf dışı edilmesine imkân sağlamıştır. İslâmî Cihad Hareketi, Eritre’nin gerçek İslâmî kimliğine kavuşturulması için silahlı mücadeleyi sürdürmektedir.[3]
Economy: The economy of Eritrea is primarily based on agriculture and animal husbandry. 85% of the population lives in rural areas, most of them are engaged in animal husbandry. Two thirds of those living in rural areas lead a sedentary or semi-sedentary life and the rest lead a nomadic life. However, statistical data on agricultural production and the number of animals fed have not yet been published.
GDP : 2,2 Billion USD.(2020)
Currency: Nakfa (ERN)
National Income per Capita: 625 USD (2021)[4]
Foreign Trade: Exports: 17.65 milyon $ (2006)
Export Products: Büyükbaş hayvan, tekstil, gıda, küçük işletmeler.
Export Partners: İtalya %36.4, ABD %13.8, Beyaz Rusya %6.8, Almanya %5.3, Birleşik Krallık %4.6 (2005)
Imports: 701.8 milyon $ (2006)
Import Products: Makine, petrol ürünleri, gıda, endüstri malları
Import Partners: Almanya %21.3, İtalya %19.5, Fransa %15.3, ABD %12.3, İrlanda %7.9, Ürdün %5.5 (2005)
Industry: The industry of Ethiopia, which previously held Eritrea, is not well developed. On the other hand, the Ethiopian administration has particularly neglected this region due to the struggle for independence in Eritrea. Eritrea's industry is therefore very backward.
Energy: Electricity production: 276.1 million kWh (2004)
Electricity consumption: 256.7 million kWh (2004)
Transportation: There were 36.000 km. road and 782 km. railway. Some of these remained within the borders of Eritrea. There is a railway connecting the city of Akordat, located near Eritrea's border with Sudan, and the city of Mitsiva on the Red Sea coast, and this railway also stops at the capital Asmara. Mitsiva is also a port city and imports and exports are carried out from the port here. The capital Asmara has an airport open to international traffic.
Health: HIV virus is the biggest health problem of Eritrea.
Education: There are a total of 165 primary and secondary education institutions in Eritrea. 27.000 students are studying in these schools. Literacy rate is 59 per cent.
International Organisations: UN, OIC, IMF, ILO, African Union, WHO.
Independence and National Day: 24 May (1993)
[1] www.ticaret.gov.tr(October-2020 Access)
[2] Encyclopaedia of Islam, TDV.
[3] www.enfal.de(October-2020 Access)
[4] www.ticaret.gov.tr(October-2020 Access)
