News Timeline: Middle East 2015

 

January 9 – Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabian authorities publicly flog Raif Badawi, an internet blogger whose website called the Liberal Saudi Network encouraged peaceful discussion on religious and political issues. He was arrested in 2012 for insulting Islam and sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes (50 at a time weekly). The sentence was widely condemned by international human rights groups. The flogging is prohibited under the international law.

January 23 – Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, who is seen as a reformer, dies at the age of 90. His younger half-brother, Salman, ascends throne and promises to continue his brother’s policies.

January 26 – Syria
After four months of intense fighting, Kurdish forces drive the Islamic State (IS) fighters from the town of Kobane in northern Syria. The town is of strategic importance. The Kurdish forces were aided by air strikes provided by the US-led coalition.

February 3 – Syria / Jordan
Jordan carries out multiple air strikes on Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria after an online video appeared showing captured Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh being burned alive. The focus of the Jordanian bombing is the city of Raqqa, the IS stronghold. The militants claim that during one of these air strikes, an American aid worker, Kayla Mueller, who was held by the IS since 2013, was killed. This claim, however, cannot be confirmed. (February 16): Egypt carries out air bombing on Islamic State targets in Libya after IS released a video showing beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were kidnapped in Libya where they worked. The killings have been widely condemned by the international community. Al-Azhar, the prestigious seat of Islamic learning in Cairo, says that these barbaric killings have nothing to do with any religion or human values. (February 17): Japan says it will contribute additional $15.5 million to fight terrorism in the Middle East following the release of the video by the Islamic State showing two Japanese hostages being beheaded. The money will fund such activities as improving border controls. (February 26): The masked Islamic State militant shown as the leader of the beheadings on the IS videos, is identified as a Kuwaiti-born British citizen Moahmmed Emwazi.

February 6 – Yemen
Yemen’s Houthi rebels seize power and announce that a five-member transitional government replaces President Abed Hadi. The announcement follows the failed UN-brokered talks aimed at solving the conflict.

March 3 – Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of U.S. Congress on the invitation of Republican leaders. The invitation is controversial because it was not consulted with the White House, further straining the relationship between the prime minister and U.S. President Barack Obama. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech focuses on portraying Iran as a terrorist state and his opposition to the deal with Iran, currently in negotiations, aiming at preventing it from gaining nuclear weapons. Fifty-eight Senate and House Democrats — including Vice President Joe Biden— boycott the event.

March 17 – Israel
Israel votes in the second parliamentary election in two years after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the parliament in December 2014 due to disagreements within the governing coalition. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party wins a surprising victory as it was seriously challenged by the center-left Zionist Union led by Isaac Herzog. During the campaign, Netanyahu promised more homes for settlers in the occupied territories and said that he would not allow for the formation of a Palestinians state. The Likud party won 30 seats in the 120-seat parliament while the Zionist Union 24 seats.

March 21 – Turkey
The jailed leader of Turkey’s Kurdish minority and the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, renews his call for his fighters to put an end to their armed insurgency.  The Turkish Kurds have fought for their independent homeland in the country’s southeast for 30 years. A ceasefire that Ocalan called in 2013 still holds and brings hopes for a long-term agreement.

March 25 – Yemen / Saudi Arabia
Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi flees the country after Houthi rebels advance on the southern city of Aden, the government’s temporary stronghold. He settled there after forced to flee the capital, Sanaa, last month after it was taken over by the Houthis. He calls for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Arab League to intervene. Houthis, who are Zaidi Shia and backed by Iran and former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, aim to replace President Hadi and his government, accusing them of corruption. President Hadi is supported by the Sunni population in the south of Yemen and its militia. Both, however, President Hadi and the Houthis, oppose al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which controls the south-east of the country and launches attacks on Yemeni targets from its stronghold. (March 26): A Saudi-led coalition of Arab states, which consists of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, and Sudan, begins air strikes against Houthi targets.

April 2 – Iran
Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program between Iran and “P5+1” (five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States, plus Germany) conclude with a framework agreement. According to the deal, to which negotiations began in 2006, Iran agrees to restrict some of its uranium enrichment program and allow international inspections. In exchange, certain economic sanctions imposed on Iran will be lifted. The details of the plan are supposed to be negotiated by June 2015.

April 14 –Yemen / Saudi Arabia
The United Nations Security Council passes a resolution that demands the Houthi rebels in Yemen to withdraw seized areas. It also imposes an arms embargo on the Houthis and their allies, such as Yemen’s former President Ali Saleh. (April 22): Hundreds of people are killed and several thousands are injured during the bombings by Saudi Arabia and its coalition aimed at defeating the Houthis and restoring Yemen’s president.

April 14 – Turkey
Turkey criticizes Pope Francis for using the word “genocide” when describing the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-16 and recalls its ambassador from the Vatican in protest.  The Pope made a speech ahead of the 100th anniversary of the deportations and killings, which remains a highly sensitive issue. Turkey admits that these atrocities were committed, but stops short of calling them a genocide. Also, while historians estimate that over a million Armenians perished, Turkey estimates the total at 300,000.

May 5 – Saudi Arabia / Yemen
Senegal joins the Saudi Arabian-led coalition, committing 2,100 troops to its military intervention in Yemen that aims to restore President Mansour Hadi. Senegal will be the only non-Arab member in the coalition. However, the country is a majority Sunni Muslim state and a traditional ally of Saudi Arabia. Senegalese soldiers have a reputation of being among the best trained in Africa.

May 7 – Israel
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forms a new government, but only with a one seat majority. The coalition government includes the centrist Kulanu party, two ultra-Orthodox parties—United Torah Judaism and Shas, as well as a right-wing Bayit Yehudi party (Jewish Home), which opposes the establishment of the Palestinian state and favors the annexation of parts of the occupied territory. In exchange for its support, Bayit Yehudi demands the influential justice ministry.

May 21 – Syria
The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) captures the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and locks down the city’s museum. Palmyra, the UNESCO World Heritage site, was founded in the 2nd century BC. It contains ancient ruins from the times of the Roman Empire and precious works of art in the museums.  It is feared that the militants will loot the museums and destroy the historical sites like they did in Iraq.

June 7 – Turkey
Turkey’s governing AK party loses its majority in the parliamentary elections for the first time in 13 years, getting only 41 percent of the vote. At the same time, Turkey’s People’s Democracy Party (HDP) wins 10 percent threshold to enter the parliament. The HDP party is pro-Kurdish, but it also appeals to regular Turks, such as liberals, environmentalists, and even religious voters. AK party will now try to form a coalition government. If it fails, it will rule as a weak minority government and there will be early elections. The AK’s loss of a parliamentary majority also means that a planned referendum to grant President Recep Erdogan more powers will most probably not take place.

July 9 – Syria / Turkey / Lebanon / Jordan
According the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the number of Syrian refugees surpassed four million. The largest number of Syrian refugees displaced by the civil war in their country – 1.8 million – fled to Turkey. 2.2 million Syrians refugees are in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, as well as more than 24,000 are registered in North Africa. In the first half of 2015, about 46,000 Syrian refugees used boats to cross to Europe. There is another seven million Syrians who are displaced within the country’s borders. Antonio Guterres, the head of the UN’s refugee agency, calls it the “worst humanitarian crisis of our generation”.

July 14 – Iran
After 20 months of negotiations, world powers (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia, and Germany) reach a long-term agreement with Iran that limits its nuclear activity in return for lifting economic sanctions by the international community. The deal allows the United Nations (UN) nuclear inspectors monitor and inspect Iranian nuclear sites and puts other checks in place to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. In exchange, Iran will regain its frozen assets oversees and will resume selling its oil on international markets. In the U.S the agreement has to be approved by Congress, where it faces strong opposition from the Republican legislatures.

July 20 – Turkey
A suicide bomber linked to the Islamic State (IS) kills 32 mostly Kurdish activists at a rally in the Turkish town of Suruc on Syrian border. (July 23): IS militants kill a Turkish border guard. (July 26): Turkey responds to the militant attacks with limited ground and air strikes against IS targets. It also targets the positions of the outlawed Kurdish PKK group. Turkey considers both organizations as terrorist. Turkey also allows the United States to use its basis to strike IS.

August 19 – Syria
Self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) beheads an 81-year-old Syrian archeologist Khaled al-Assad who devoted most of his professional life to look after and protect the ancient ruins of Palmyra in Syria. The ancient city is famous for its well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins and the Baalshamin temple that date back to the first century AD. Palmyra is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is believed that al-Assad was killed because he refused to point the militants to the city’s hidden treasures. (August 23): IS militants, who took over Palmyra in May, blow up the Baalshamin temple. The United Nations calls its destruction a war crime. The militants supposedly believe that any shrine or statue that suggests the existence of another deity is idolatry and should be destroyed. They have already bulldozed and ransacked many great archeological treasures in Iraq.

September 22 – Yemen
After six months in exile, Yemen’s president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, returns to Aden. He fled the Houthi rebels in March, but Saudi-led coalition recaptured the city in July. But the Houthis are still in control of Yemeni capital, Saana, as well as heavily populated areas in the north and west of the country. According to the USAID, more than 4,500 people have been killed in the conflict so far, with 95 percent of them being civilians. A total of 1.4 million have been internally displaced persons.

September 30 – Palestinian Territories
For the first time, a Palestinian flag is raised outside the headquarters of the United Nations in New York after the General Assembly adopted a resolution that permits non-member observer states to fly their flags alongside those of full member states. The move is criticized by Israel and the United States. For the Palestinians, this historic event is the next step toward being recognized as a state by the international community.

September 30 – Syria
Russia begins air strikes in Syria claiming it targets the militants of the Islamic State (IS). However, the Syrian opposition says that Russian strikes target mostly groups that fight IS and Bashir Assad’s government troops. The Syrian government is Russia’s ally.

October 10 – Turkey
Two suicide bombings kill 97 people in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, during a crowded rally protesting the government’s violence against the Kurds. The government blames the Islamic State (IS) for the bombings. However, Kurdish activists accuse the Turkish government for failing to protect the rally, and even involvement over the attack.

October 17 – Israel / Palestinian Territories
Seven Israelis are killed and many injured in a wave of random knife stabbings by Palestinians since early October that took place in Jerusalem, the West Bank, and across Israel. Also, at least 40 Palestinians are killed, including several attackers in this recent turmoil. The attacks began after rumors circulated among Palestinians that Israel was planning to change a religious arrangement that governs the Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif in favor of Jews. After Israel conquered the Old City of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War of June 1967, it allowed the Waqf Islamic authorities, consisting of a director, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and the Islamic Council, to stay in charge of the Temple Mount. Under the arrangement, the Waqf administer the daily operation of the site, while Israel is in charge of security and keeps non-Muslims from openly praying there to avoid provocations.

October 20 – Syria
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrives in Russia on his first foreign trip since the country’s civil war erupted in 2011. He meets with President Vladimir Putin, Assad’s ally, who recently initiated Russia’s air bombings on IS and other rebels who oppose Assad’s government. By receiving Assad, Putin shows his country’s continued support for him.

October 29 – Saudi Arabia
The European Parliament selects Saudi Arabia’s jailed blogger Raif Badawi as a recipient of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom and Thought for his fight for human rights and democracy. The parliament’s president also encourages Saudi Arabia to free Badawi, who as an author of the website “Free Saudi Liberals” was sentenced in 2012 to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam.

November 1 – Turkey
Turkey’s general election results in a win of the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), which regains a parliamentary majority after having had lost it five months earlier in the June 2015 general election. The snap election was called by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in August after the June election resulted in a hung parliament and inability to form a coalition. Despite winning a majority, AKA comes short of 14 seats to be able to call a referendum on changing the constitution and boosting the President’s powers.

November 12 – Lebanon
The Islamic State (IS) takes responsibility for two suicide attacks in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. The bombings take place in a mostly Shia suburb and Hezbollah stronghold, the Bourj al-Barajneh district, with one outside a mosque and the other inside a bakery. The attack kills 43 people and injures 239. All four attackers were IS recruits.

November 24 – Turkey
Turkey shoots down a Russian warplane in the Syrian-Turkey border area, which was on the bombing mission in Syria. Turkey claims the plane violated Turkish airspace, flying over Turkish territory despite 10 warnings to change course. Russia denies the claim and says that the plane never entered Turkish airspace. Turkey says it has previously warned Russia about violations of its airspace, as well as strikes against Syrian Turkic minority that lives in Syria along the Turkish border. Russian President Vladimir Putin describes the attack as “a stab in the back by the accomplices of terrorists.” Russia also imposes economic sanctions on Turkey.

December 4 – Syria
The United Kingdom begins military air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria immediately after the UK’s parliament overwhelmingly approved the country’s military action against IS. The first six different targets include the Omar oil fields in eastern Syria that are under the IS control. Germany’s parliament also votes to send military support for the US-led coalition in Syria.

December 28 – Iraq
With the backing of the US-led coalition, the Iraqi army regains the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State (IS) militants. Ramadi was in the militants’ hands since May. Ramadi’s recapture is seen as a major setback for the IS militants.