Aden People's Republic Civil War

The Aden People's Republic Civil War (more commonly called the Aden war) was a military engagement between rebels on the Island of Socotra and the Turkish Federation. The conflict lasted for 11 days from February 21 to March 3 of 2005, making it the shortest war in the 21st century.

## Background

After the Second Weltkrieg, the Turkish Federation was oddly allowed to keep the Island of Socotra in the Arabian sea. Due to the region being isolated from the rest of Turkey and being generally poor after the war, the communist party began to rise in the early 2000s. Starting on May 17, 2004, major protests appeared on the island. Turkey tried to counter this by enacting a law that banned communist activity, but this only added fuel to the fire. It came to a peak on February 12, 2005, when a Turkish soldier shot a protestor without command. Outraged, the communists organized a new uprising, which was the largest uprising so far, covering the eastern portion of the island. On February 21, a member of the Turkish Provisional Government stated "The actions of the communists on the island of Socotra are not that of a protest, they are those of a war. If they wish to go to war with the Turkish Federation and people, then so be it. We, the provisional government of the Turkish Federation hereby declare war on the communist rebels in Socotra!" This was followed by loud applause from the other provisional officials.

## The War

At the start of the war, the rebels held the eastern tip of the main island, plus three of the surrounding minor islands. On the same day as the Turkish declaration of war, the rebels on Socotra proclaimed themselves as the Aden People's Republic, despite actual Aden being in Yemen. The Militia of Aden started off with 3,000 soldiers, 2 major ships, 1 jet, and 1,005 soldiers in reserve. The turkish federation decided to send 4,000 soldiers to the island with 3 major ships, and 2 jets. On February 21, at 10:00 UTC+3, the Turkish forced landed in Qalansiyah. On February 22, the Aden People's Republic started their first offensives along the southern coast, on a trail to the city of Jo'oh, and along the RR01 highway. On the 23rd, the Turkish forces started a counter-offensive to keep Aden's forces from capturing Jo'oh. The other offensives continued. On February 24, Aden used its small navy to land on the southwest of the island. After seeing their success, Communists in the city of Steroh rose up and joined the rebel cause. On the 25th, the rebels started 2 new offensives on the western side of the island. One that pushed inland to the north, and one on the western coast, heading to Qalinsiyah. At 9:00 UTC+3, the west coast offensive forces set up camp near the outskirts of Qalinsiyah. The RR01 offensive also captured the cities of Mori and Hadiboh. On the 26th of February, the West Coast offensive successfully captured Qalinsiyah. On the same day, the RR01 offensive also captured the city of Qashio. Forces from the city of Steroh also started to push east to meet up with the southern forces, which they did at 6:00 UTC+3. On February 27, the RR01 offensive and the West Coast offensive met up, surrounding the remaining Turkish-held land. From February 28 to March 2, the rebels would push insland from all directions in 'Operation Wolf' On March 3, at 7:00 in the morning, the remaining 783 Turkish soldiers surrendered to the rebels. The same day, the top officials in the Turkish Provisional government flew to Socotra to discuss peace. Finally, The treaty of Mori was signed at 22:00 UTC+3, on March 3, 2005.

## Aftermath

As per the Treaty of Mori, the Aden People's Republic would gain independence from the Turkish Federation, and would be internationally recognized as a sovereign country. In return, Aden would have to pay Turkey 7,000 Lira. In the years following, it became clear that a divide was starting between the Eastern Socialists and the Western Syndicalists. Aden decided to side with the Soviet east, due to their power and influence near the country.