East Timorese-Saharawi relations

East Timorese-Saharawi relations

East Timor	Western Sahara

The Southeast Asian state of East Timor and the government of the Democratic Arab Republic of Sahara ( Western Sahara ) are on friendly terms.

history

The two foreign ministers in New York: Dionísio Babo and Mohamed Salem Ould Salek (2019)

East Timor sees parallels in its own history in the aspirations for independence of the Democratic Arab Republic of the Sahara and has therefore established diplomatic relations. East Timor was occupied by neighboring Indonesia in 1975 after the Portuguese colonial power withdrew , and after 24 years of guerrilla warfare and three years of UN administration, it was given independence again in 2002. Western Sahara was occupied by Morocco and Mauritania at the end of 1975 after the colonial power of Spain withdrew . When Mauritania ended the occupation, Morocco also annexed the southern part of the area. Only in the east does the Polisario Front exercise control over the territory. The Moroccan King Mohammed VI disputed the comparability of the fates of Western Sahara and East Timor . 2014 in a speech. The ties between the peoples of Morocco and Western Sahara are closer.

José Ramos-Horta , who later became President of East Timor and won the Nobel Peace Prize, visited the refugee camps in Western Sahara at the invitation of the Polisario. After the independence referendum held in East Timor in 1999 , Saharaui demonstrated in the towns of Western Sahara with the slogan "Sahara gharbiya, Timor sharqiya" ( German  Western Sahara, East Timor ).

diplomacy

In 2009, Mohamed Kamal Fadel was the first ambassador for the Democratic Arab Republic of the Sahara to be appointed. In 2010 the Sahara Embassy opened in Dili, the capital of East Timor . On June 7, 2010, Mohamed Salama Badi , the new ambassador of the Sahara, presented his accreditation to President José Ramos-Horta.

See also : List of Ambassadors of the Sahara Democratic Arab Republic in East Timor

East Timor does not yet have an embassy in the Sahara Democratic Arab Republic. The East Timorese government demands progress in the conflict between the Sahara and Morocco and the self-determination of the Sahara.

literature

• Stephen Zunes: Indigestible Lands? Comparing the Fates of Western Sahara and East Timor , Oxford 2001, doi : 10.1093 / 0199244901.003.0010 .

Web links

Commons : East Timorese-Saharawi Relations  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Communiqué of the Democratic Arab Republic of the Sahara and East Timor on the establishment of relations (French, English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} United Nations, General Assembly, GA / SPD / 482, October 10, 2011, Committee Wraps Up General Debate on Decolonization Issues, Speakers Focus on Question of Western Sahara, Special Committee on Decolonization , accessed May 20, 2012.
2. ↑ The Moroccan Times: King Mohammed VI: “Those Comparing Sahara Issue to Timor-Leste Are Wrong,” November 9, 2014 , accessed May 24, 2017.
3. ^ The Guardian: The dignity of the ballot , October 31, 2005 , accessed May 23, 2017.
4. ↑ ANGOP: Presidente reafirma apoio ao Saara Ocidental , June 7, 2016 , accessed on November 27, 2016.
5. ↑ President of the Republic confirms Timor-Leste's support during the presentation of credentials of the ambassador of Western Sahara  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Presidência da República - Press release.