ConflictBarometer_2016

MIDDLE EAST AND MAGHREB
on February 3, showing operations near the Saudi-Yemeni
border against troops loyal to the Hadi government as well as
the execution of an opposition fighter and four Yemeni soldiers.
On February 17, an IS militant used a military uniform to
enter atraining camp where he detonated an explosive vest,
killing 13 recruits and wounding 60 more. On March 4, four IS
militants shot seven civilians and nine security guards dead
in a nursing home in Aden. Between March and September,
IS militants reportedly killed at least 198 and injured 140 in
eight attacks against government security forces in al-Khalf,
al-Mukalla and Aden. On October 26, IS Wilayat al-Bayda
claimed in a statement to have repelled several al-Houthi-
Saleh attacks in Qifa village, al-Bayda Governorate, killing at
least 35 al-Houthi-Saleh fighters. Al-Qaeda on the Arabian
Peninsula (AQAP) and Houthi-Saleh forces were fighting over
influence in the region [→Yemen (AQAP, Ansar al-Sharia)]. According
to a statement of CIA Director John Brennan, AQAP
and IS were cooperating on atactical level in southern Yemen.
ska; lru; sbr
TURKEY (OPPOSITION)
Intensity: 4 | Change: | Start: 2013
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
opposition groups vs. government
system/ideology, national power
The violent crisis over national power and the orientation
of the political system between opposition groups, mainly
protesters related to the Gezi protests of 2013, as well as the
Islamic Glen movement, on the one hand, and the government
as well as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the other
hand, escalated to alimited war.
Initially, the conflict started in May 2013, after environmentalists
and different groups of civil society started protesting
against the demolition of the Gezi Park in Istanbul city, Istanbul
province, which was dispersed by police force violently,
triggering subsequent demands for more democracy by hundreds
of thousands of protesters. In the following years, the
government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan restricted the free media
and dismissed thousands of staff in the judiciary, in the
education system, in the military as well as other public institutions.
A large amount of these were accused of being
members of the Glen movement led by the USA-based Islamic
scholar Fethullah Glen. The group was designated as
a terrorist organization by Turkey end of May 2016. Due to an
attempted military coup in July this year, the conflict intensity
increased to the level of a severe crisis.
On February 22, an Izmir Criminal Court sentenced Republican
People's Party (CHP) politician Omer Yener from Bornova
district, Izmir province, to eleven months and 20 days of suspended
jail for insulting Erdogan in arally speech.
As in previous years, the government continued crackdowns
196
against independent media organizations. For instance, police
forces raided the offices of the largest Turkish daily newspaper
Zaman, which is accused of having links to the Gülen
movement, in Istanbul, and dispersed hundreds of protesters
in front of the building with tear gas, water cannons, and plastic
bullets on March 4. Shortly before, an Istanbul court had
placed the newspaper under the management of trustees.
After the Cumhuriyet newspaper journalists Can Dündar and
Erdem Gül had been arrested on 11/26/15, the Istanbul 14th
Court of Serious Crimes convicted the two ofleaking state
secrets, sentencing Gül to five years and Dündar to five years
and ten months in prison on May 6. After Dündar made an
appeal to the court for cassation, he left Turkey in June and
announced that he will not apply for political asylum and return
when the time is right.
On June 5, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors
decreed the replacement of about 3,750 judges and prosecutors
nationwide. Two days later, Erdogan approved abill
which enabled the lifting of the parliamentary immunity from
judicial prosecution. Subsequently, 799 cases were opened
against lawmakers. The oppositional People`s Democratic
Party (HDP) reacted by announcing to apply to the European
Court of Human Rights.
On June 17, the Istanbul Governor's office announced to ban
LGBT marches for the month, after a ultra-nationalist youth
group had previously threatened the march. Two days later,
150 LGBT activists gathered in the city despite the ban. In reaction,
several hundred riot policemen dispersed the group
with tear gas and rubber bullets. On June 26, 300 protesters
staged another LGBT march in Istanbul, which was also dispersed
by riot police.
In the night from July 15 to 16, a faction of the Turkish Armed
Forces (TAF) blocked two Bosporus bridges in Istanbul and
deployed tanks to Istanbul as well as the capital Ankara. At
the Incirlik military air base in Adana province electricity was
shut down. Moreover, the access to social media was reportedly
blocked. Shortly after, Prime minister Binali Yildirim announced
that parts of TAF were attempting to topple the government.
TAF immediately announced that the coup plotters
represented a small faction of TAF and that TAF opposed the
coup. The anti-government faction of TAF attacked the police
special forces headquarters in Ankara with a fighter jet, killing
42 and injuring 43. They also occupied Taksim square in Istanbul
as well as the national broadcaster TRT. Subsequently,
TRT was forced to broadcast that TAF had taken control over
the country in order to secure democracy. CNN Turk, in turn,
broadcasted a live-message from President Erdogan, encouraging
citizens to leave their houses and protest against the
coup. Hundreds of thousands followed this call. Tanks and
fighter jets also attacked the Parliament Building in the capital.
A helicopter with eight military personnel illegally landed
in Alexandroupoli, Greece, requesting political asylum. During
the coup, at least 241 persons were killed and over 1,400
injured. One day later, the government detained thousands
of soldiers and dismissed thousands of judges. President Erdogan
accused Gülen and his supporters to be responsible
for the coup attempt. Gülen as well as all opposition parties
condemned the coup attempt. On July 20, all academic staff
were banned from leaving the country and the ones abroad
were demanded to return. The same day, the government
declared a three-month-long state of emergency, extending