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:
“Don’t give your opinions about Art and the Purpose of Life. They are of little interest and, anyway, you can’t express them. Don’t analyse yourself. Give the relevant facts and let your readers make their own judgments. Stick to your story. It is not the most important subject in history but it is one about which you are uniquely qualified to speak.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“He wrote in prison, not a History of the World, like Raleigh, but an American book which I think will live longer than that. I do not know of such words, uttered under such circumstances, and so copiously withal, in Roman or English or any history.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“All history and art are against us, but we still expect happiness in love.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)