History
The Hanish Islands were claimed by the Ottoman Empire, a claim abandoned by Turkey in 1923. From that point forward they were administered by the Italian Colony of Eritrea until 1941. In 1941, after the surrender of the Italian colonial forces, the British army established Eritrea as a protectorate. Throughout the 1970s Ethiopia (which had annexed Eritrea) and Yemen claimed the islands. Ethiopian interest in the Islands stemmed from the fact that Eritrean independence groups used the Hanish Islands, and the nearby Zuqar Island, as a base to attack Ethiopian military interests.
In 1991 Eritrea gained independence and in 1995 attempted to exercise sovereignty over the archipelago. This started the Hanish Islands conflict, which was eventually ended after a brief conflict between Eritrea and Yemen over the islands. In all, 3–12 Eritreans and 4-15 Yemenis were killed in the fighting.
Read more about this topic: Hanish Islands
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“A man acquainted with history may, in some respect, be said to have lived from the beginning of the world, and to have been making continual additions to his stock of knowledge in every century.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)
“Certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment’s comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The history of the genesis or the old mythology repeats itself in the experience of every child. He too is a demon or god thrown into a particular chaos, where he strives ever to lead things from disorder into order.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)