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Political Instability in Yemen (1962- 2014)

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Political Instability in Yemen (1962- 2014) T.C. ANKARA YILDIRIM BEYAZIT UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN YEMEN (1962- 2014) MASTER’S THESIS Sohaib Abdulhameed Abdulsalam SHAMSAN DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ANKARA, 2020 T.C. ANKARA YILDIRIM BEYAZIT UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN YEMEN (1962- 2014) MASTER’S THESIS Sohaib Abdulhameed Abdulsalam SHAMSAN DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Prof. Dr. Yılmaz BINGÖL ANKARA 2020 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences __________________________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Seyfullah YILDIRIM Manager of Institute of Social Science I certify that this thesis satisfies the entire requirement as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science and Public Administration. ___________________________ Prof. Dr. Yılmaz Bingöl Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts. ___________________________ Prof. Dr. Yılmaz Bingöl Supervisor Examining Committee Members: 1. Prof. Dr. Yılmaz BİNGÖL AYBU, PSPA ________________________ 2. Assist. Prof. Dr Güliz Dinç. AYBU, PSPA ________________________ 3. Prof. Dr. Murat ÖNDER ASBÜ ________________________ DECLARATION I hereby declare that all information in this document obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Sohaib Abdulhameed Abdulsalam SHAMSAN ___________________________ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First, I wish to show my gratitude to, and express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Professor Dr. Yılmaz Bingöl, who has the substance of a genius: he convincingly guided and encouraged me to be professional and do the right thing even when the road got tough. Without his persistent help, the goal of this project would not have realized. ABSTRACT What Yemenis are experiencing today from wars, conflicts, famine, and disease is the inevitable result of political instability for a long time. This article elaborates on the main dilemmas in the political instability in Yemen and proposes appropriate solutions. In fact, there are many reasons that led to the absence of political stability in Yemen, such as separatist calls in southern Yemen and Al-Qaeda wars. Yemeni tribes stand as a parallel political system to the Yemeni government because the Yemeni tribe has most of the state’s elements such as power, weapons, and money. The dynastic sectarian calls for the Imamate and the class like the Hashemite family claiming the right to rule Yemen simply because they related to the Prophet Muhammad. As a result, they led several wars against the Yemenis starting from the six wars in Sa'ada governorate, which lasted for six years and ended with the coup in September 2014. Keywords: Yemen, Civil War, Political Stability, Houthis, Saudi Arabia, Iran, NDC iv ÖZET Yemen'in içinde bulunduğu savaşlar, çatışmalar, kıtlıklar ve hastalıklar, uzun süredir yaşanan siyasi istikrarsızlığın kaçınılmaz sonucudur. Bu arıştırma amaç Yemen'deki siyasi istikrarsızlıktaki temel ikilemleri detaylandırmak ve onlara uygun çözümler önermektir. Aslında Güney Yemen'deki ayrılıkçı çağrılar ve El Kaide savaşları gibi vakaların hepsi ülkede siyasi istikrarın oluşamamasına yol açıyor. Ülkedeki kabileler, Yemen hükümetine paralel bir siyasi sistem olarak bu konumda yer almakta ve bu kabileler, devletin güç, silah ve para kaynağı gibi önemli unsurlarının çoğuna sahip bulunmaktadırlar. İmamlığın mezhep hanedanları ve Haşimi ailesi gibi sınıflar, sırf Hz. Muhammed'le akraba olmalarını öne sürerek Yemen'i yönetme hakkı talep etmektedirler. Bunun sonucunda da Sa'ada vilayetinde altı yıl süren ve Eylül 2014'te darbeyle sona eren savaşlarla beraber Yemen halkına karşı başka savaşlar da başlatmış oldular. Anahtar Kelimeler: Yemen, İç Savaş, Siyasi İstikrar, Husiler, Suudi Arabistan, İran, NDC v CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................... iv ÖZET ........................................................................................................................................... v CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. viii LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background of the Research ............................................................................................. 1 1.2. Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................. 2 1.3. Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 3 1.4. Research Methodology ..................................................................................................... 3 1.5. Objectives of the Study ..................................................................................................... 3 1.6. Significance of the Study .................................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................ 5 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................ 5 2.1. The Concept of Political Stability ..................................................................................... 5 2.2. Determinants and Manifestations of Political Stability .................................................... 6 2.2.1. Manifestations with political dimensions ................................................................... 7 2.2.2. The social dimension of political stability ............................................................... 11 2.3. The Economic Dimension of Political Stability ............................................................. 12 CHAPTER 3 .............................................................................................................................. 14 YEMEN POLITICAL INSTABLITY BACKGROUND.......................................................... 14 3.1 Yemen Before Unification ............................................................................................... 14 3.1.1 The Political Development in the Yemen Arab Republic ......................................... 14 3.1.2. The Political Development in the Democratic Republic of Yemen ......................... 23 3.2 Yemen after Unification .................................................................................................. 31 3.2.1 The Dispute of 1994 .................................................................................................. 32 3.2.2 The Six wars in Sa’adah ............................................................................................ 33 3.2.3 Southern Movement in 2007 ..................................................................................... 35 3.2.4. Arab Spring and Yemen ........................................................................................... 36 vi 3.2.5. Current Fight and fall of Sanaa ................................................................................ 36 CHATER 4 ................................................................................................................................ 38 DETERMINANTS OF POLITICAL INSTABILITY IN YEMEN .......................................... 38 4.1. Political and Social Determinants ................................................................................... 38 4.1.1. Socialist Party and the Muslim Brotherhood ........................................................... 41 4.1.2. The ruling elites and transfer of power .................................................................... 43 4.1.3. The role of the tribe .................................................................................................. 44 4.1.4. Social Stratification .................................................................................................. 47 4.1.5. Armed groups in Yemen .......................................................................................... 49 4.2. Geographical determinants ............................................................................................. 51 4.3. Regional and International determinants ........................................................................ 55 4.3.1.Saudi Iranian intervention in Yemen ........................................................................ 55 4.4. Weak states and Political Reforms ................................................................................. 59 4.4.1. Pre Unification Weak states and Political System Reforms .......................................
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