Democratic Republic of Yemen
1994 breakaway state in South Yemen
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The Democratic Republic of Yemen (Arabic: جمهورية اليمن الديمقراطية Jumhūriyyat al-Yaman ad-Dīmuqrāṭiyyah), was a short-lived state that fought against the mainland Yemen in the 1994 Yemeni Civil War. It was declared in May 1994 and covered all of the former South Yemen.
Democratic Republic of Yemen جمهورية اليمن الديمقراطية Jumhūriyyat al-Yaman ad-Dīmuqrāṭiyyah | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1994–July 1994 | |||||||||
| Status | Partially recognised state | ||||||||
| Capital | Aden | ||||||||
| Common languages | Arabic | ||||||||
| Government | Republic | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1994 | Ali Salem al-Beidh | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1994 | Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas | ||||||||
| Historical era | Yemeni Civil War | ||||||||
• Established | May 1994 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | July 1994 | ||||||||
| Currency | South Yemeni dinar[citation needed] | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The DRY, with its capital in Aden, was led by President Ali Salem al-Beidh and Prime Minister Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas and represented a response to the weakening position of the South in the civil war of 1994. The new state failed to receive international recognition. Its leaders, in addition to Yemeni Socialist Party figures such as al-Beidh and Attas, included some prominent personalities from South Yemeni history such as Abdallah al-Asnaj, who had been strenuously opposed to YSP one-party rule in the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.[1]
History
Following the declaration of the establishment of this state, the 1994 Summer War broke out, from May till July 1994 between the Yemeni government and the newly established state, which resulted in the deaths of 1,000-7,000 people.[2] Troops from both sides clashed, with southern supporters of Ali Nasser Muhammad supporting government forces and tribes, and Islamist parties in the south and north hostile to the new government.[3] The war was won by the Yemeni government, which describes the war as a war of defense of unity, while many people from the southern governorates describe it as a war of occupation, claiming that many lands and properties were seized in favor of officials and tribal sheikhs from the northern governorates.[4] Ali Abdullah Saleh appointed prime ministers from the south since the end of the war as an attempt to gain southern support.[5]
