Azawad
The Azawad ( Tuareg Berber azawaɣ , savanna ' in Tifinagh script ⴰⵣⴰⵓⴷ ; Arabic دولة أزواد المستقلة Dawlat Azawād al-Mustaqilla , French État indépendant de l'Azawad , also Azaouad ) is the northern part of the West African state of Mali . From 2012 to 2013, the entire region formed a separate state that was de facto independent from Mali.
designation
The term Azawad (older also Asauad ) stems from Azawagh system of wadi ago, a seasonal river system between the town of Gao in Mali and the Aïr Mountains in Niger one or in the Timbuktu region located by Tuareg inhabited oasis system consisting of the Oases Mabrouk (Mabruk), Bou Djeheba (Bu Dschebeha) and Araouane (Araouan).
location
The Azawad consists of the regions of Timbuktu , Gao and Kidal . In the “Pacte national du 11 avril 1992, Bamako, Mali”, the government and Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) agreed to name regions VI, VII and VIII “Azawad”. The Malian regions are numbered; the regions mentioned are Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu, see also regions in Mali . These have an area of around 822,000 km². The MNLA also claimed the Douentza district of the Mopti region . The largest cities in Azawad are Gao with around 87,000 and Timbuktu with around 54,000 inhabitants.
The region consists mainly of sand , stone and rock desert with a few scattered oases . In the south, along the Niger River, there are extensive floodplains at an average altitude of 250 to 260 meters above sea level . The Adrar des Ifoghas mountains in the east are up to 890 meters high.
population
The Azawad is inhabited by Songhai , Tuareg , Fulbe , Bidhan and other ethnic groups. The MNLA, a paramilitary organization that saw itself as the representative of all the peoples of the Azawad, rebelled twice against the central government in Bamako and fought for a sovereign state of the same name from 2012 . At the 2009 census, the Malian regions of Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal had 1,295,000 inhabitants. However, after the rebellion began, about 250,000 residents had fled. In 2012 alone, the UN registered around 150,000 refugees.
Split from Mali
On April 6, 2012, at least two spokesmen for the rebel Tuareg declared the independence of Azawad from the Republic of Mali . The MNLA's Executive Committee asked the international community to recognize their state immediately. French Defense Minister Gérard Longuet said the declaration meant nothing as long as other African countries did not recognize the independence of the area. A little later the African Union declared the MNLA's declaration of independence null and void; According to Catherine Ashton , spokeswoman for the EU foreign affairs officer , the European Union had made it clear throughout the crisis that it respected the territorial integrity of Mali.
In the meantime, an Islamist group called Ansar Dine had formed in Azawad , which is close to Al-Qaeda . This group introduced Sharia law and fought for an Islamic state, while the MNLA campaigned for a religiously neutral nation state. Women had to veil themselves, and those suspected of theft had to expect their right hand to be hacked off. Shortly after the declaration of independence, the alliance broke between the MNLA and Ansar Dine, led by Iyad Ag Ghaly , who, according to his supporters, found his true faith while staying in Pakistan, because of political and religious differences. Islamist groups increasingly distanced themselves from the MNLA's declaration of independence and drove their former allies from Timbuktu and other cities in the region.
In a video message on April 6, 2012, Ansar Dine stated that it does not recognize the MNLA's declaration of independence: "We are against revolutions that are not in the name of Islam". The aim is Islamic Sharia law in all of Mali.
Many Tuareg accused the Mali government of trying to exterminate their people. Amnesty International warned of a "serious humanitarian disaster". Northern Malians who fled to Bamako demonstrated there several times against the secession of the Azawad and intended to disempower the rebels. On April 8, 2012, the predominantly ethnic Arabs from Timbuktu founded the Front de liberation nationale de l'Azawad (FLNA), which, according to its own statements, had 500 fighters. The FLNA wanted to defend Timbuktu against the MNLA and rejected the rule of "a Tuareg from Kidal".
According to a report by the BBC , representatives of the MNLA and Ansar Dine agreed at the end of May 2012 to establish an Islamic Republic in Azawad. The MNLA terminated the agreement just a week later. In the course of 2012, Ansar Dine, along with two other Islamist groups, gained increasing power. The other two were the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI).
Reintegration in Mali
As part of a UN mandate, France began the military intervention Opération Serval on January 11, 2013 at a request by the government of Mali . By the end of January 2013, the Islamist groups from all major cities in the region had been pushed back.
See also
Web links
- Orphans of the Sahara (Episode 1: Return 46:30 - Episode 2: Rebellion 47:26 - Episode 3: Exile 47:30) (English; videos)
Individual evidence
- ^ Mouvement National de Liberation de l'Azawad . Mouvement National de Liberation de l'Azawad. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
- ↑ Markus M. Haefliger: Old-new desire for self-determination: Mali's rebels are striving for their own state for the Tuareg. NZZ Online , April 2, 2012, accessed on April 6, 2012 .
- ↑ FACTBOX-'Azawad': self-proclaimed Tuareg state ( memento of the original from September 14, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , AlertNet, April 6, 2012. According to Reuters, the Azawad "roughly consists of the three northern regions of Mali"
- ↑ Touaregs: le Pacte national du 11 avril 1992, Bamako, Mali. (French)
- ^ Separatist Mali rebels 'end military operations' , france24.com, April 5, 2012.
- ↑ FACTBOX-'Azawad': self-proclaimed Tuareg state ( memento of the original from September 14, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , AlertNet, April 6, 2012
- ↑ Markus M. Haefliger: A Tuareg state or the Sharia: allied rebels in northern Mali pursue different goals . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , April 3, 2012. ISSN 0376-6829 . Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ↑ Arne Perras: Rebels conquer north of Mali . In: sueddeutsche.de , April 2, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ^ Thomas Scheen: Mali: Islamists and Tuareg encircle Timbuktu . In: FAZ.NET , April 1, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
- ↑ Nick Meo: Triumphant Tuareg rebels fall out over al-Qaeda's jihad in Mali. In: The Telegraph. April 7, 2012, accessed April 10, 2012 .
- ↑ UNHCR Global Report 2012 - Africa Regional Summary. UNHCR, accessed June 20, 2013 .
- ↑ Original of the MNLA's statement , mnlamov.net (official website of the MNLA), April 6, 2012 (French)
- ^ Nouvel Observateur.fr , April 6, 2012 .
- ^ Zeit-online from April 6, 2012 .
- ^ Tuareg rebels proclaim their own state
- ↑ EU and AU reject the independence of North Mali , NZZ Online, April 6, 2012
- ↑ The "lion of the desert" rules in Timbuktu. Islamist Iyad Ag Ghaly wants to introduce Sharia law. Rheinische Post , April 8, 2011, accessed on April 12, 2011 .
- ↑ The West ignores the new Tuareg state. Chaos in Mali. Spiegel Online , April 6, 2012, accessed April 12, 2011 .
- ↑ Mali takes the first step out of chaos and crisis. (No longer available online.) Zeit Online , April 9, 2011, archived from the original on December 16, 2015 ; Retrieved April 12, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Rebels proclaim Sharia law , Spiegel Online, April 3, 2012
- ^ Tuareg proclaim their own state , Süddeutsche.de, April 6, 2012
- ^ Bate Felix: AU, US reject Mali rebels' independence declaration. (No longer available online.) In: Reuters. April 6, 2012, archived from the original on December 30, 2015 ; accessed on April 10, 2012 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Malians protest against Azawad independence. In: The New York Times. April 7, 2012, accessed April 7, 2012 .
- ↑ protest in Bamoko as Malians reject independence of North. In: Euronews. April 8, 2012, accessed April 10, 2012 .
- ↑ Mali: les pays voisins appellent au dialogue dans le Nord où un nouveau mouvement apparaît . ( Memento of the original from April 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. RFI
- ^ Bate Felix, Adama Diarra: New north Mali Arab force seeks to "defend" Timbuktu. In: Reuters. April 10, 2012, Retrieved April 10, 2012 .
- ^ Mali Tuareg and Islamist rebels agree on Sharia state. In: bbc.co.uk. May 27, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2012 .
- ↑ Tuareg reject the state with Islamists. In: diepresse.com. June 1, 2012, accessed June 3, 2012 .
- ↑ Crisis diplomacy: Westerwelle visits the West African crisis state Mali. (No longer available online.) In: FTD.DE. November 1, 2012, archived from the original on May 7, 2014 ; Retrieved January 27, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ wienerzeitung.at
- ↑ faz.net
- ↑ Militant Islamists in Mali, Algeria, Mauritania and Niger (SPON, January 17, 2013)
