Middle East1945-Present

Turkey• Created from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire

• Young Turks commit genocide against the Armenians, 1915-1919, still don’t admit it

• Mustafa Kemal Ataturk declares independence & creates a modern secular Islamic state in1923

• Balances between Western & Islamic influences

Turkey After Ataturk

• 1938- President Ataturk dies• 1939-45- Neutral until end of WWII, declare

war on the Axis powers but never fights & then joins the U.N.

• 1950- first open “democratic” elections, won by opposition party

• 1952- Abandons Ataturk’s neutrality & joins NATO

Turkish Unrest

• 1974- Turkey invades Northern Cyprus, trade embargo follows, embargo lifted in 1978

• 1984- Recognizes Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus & Kurds launch a separatist war (PKK)

• 1987- Applies for full membership in EEC

• 1999- PKK leader captured, sentenced to life in prison

Turkey Today

• Turkey has gone through several military coups & new constitutions

• The nation is divided between secularists & Islamists as well as Turks, Kurds, & Christians (Armenians & Greeks)

• In 2015, 17 former military leaders were sentenced to time in prison for plotting a coup in 2003

Persia=Iran• Tug of war

between Britain, Russia, & the USA throughout the 20th Century

• Ruled by a totalitarian Shah until 1979

• Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 established an Islamic theocracy

•The Iranian government is vehemently Anti-American•52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days after the revolution

Iran in the 1980s• 1980- Iraq invades Iran & starts

the 8 year Iran-Iraq War• 1985- Iran-Contra Affair, US sold

weapons to Iran to send money to rebels in Nicaragua

• 1988- U.S. ship shoots down an Iranian passenger jet killing 290 people

• 1989- Ayatollah Khomeini dies, President Khamene’i named supreme leader

Iran After Khomeini

• 1995- U.S. imposes sanctions against Iran for sponsoring “terrorism” & developing nuclear weapons

• 1998- Iran sends troops to border with Afghanistan after Taliban kills 8 Iranian diplomats & a journalist

• 2009- Green Revolution erupts when election results are disputed, leads to brutal police crack down

Iran’s Nuclear Story• 2002- Russia starts building Iran’s 1st nuclear

reactor• 2003- IAEA (U.N. nuclear agency) determines

Iran doesn’t have a weapons program• 2005- Iran starts enriching uranium again• 2012- more nations impose trade sanctions

against Iran• 2015- “Framework” for a deal with Iran

established but it’s controversial in U.S. & Iran

Saudi Arabia

• Unified by Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud beginning in 1902, with the help of ultra-conservative Ikhwan based on Wahhabism

• Named Saudi Arabia in 1932• The Saud family rules the nation• Oil discovered in 1938. • All national improvements made

with oil revenue• Extremes of wealth

Saudi Arabia & Oil • 1960- Saudi Arabia is a founding

member of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)

• 1973- Leads boycott against Western nations that support Israel in the October Wars. Oil prices quadruple.

• 1979- cuts ties with Egypt after Camp David Accords establish peace between Egypt & Israel

Saudi Arabia Cont’d

• 1987- Resumes diplomatic relations with Egypt

• 1990- Condemns Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait & expels citizens of Jordan & Yemen because the governments support Iraq

• 1994- Osama Bin Laden stripped of his Saudi citizenship

• 2001- 15 of 19 9/11 hijackers from Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia Today

• Saudi Arabia has battled terrorism & civil unrest across the region in the last 15 years

• Hundreds have been arrested for ties to al-Qaeda, no clear numbers of convictions

• Women have been fighting for rights, voting, holding political office, & driving

• Currently fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen & the Islamic State in Syria

Decolonization & Partitioning

• 1917 Balfour Declaration- Britain promises a homeland for the Jews

• The Arabs were also promised their own state in Palestine

Israel

• Jewish nation-state created after the horrors of the Holocaust during WWII

• Established May 14, 1948• Attacked by Arab neighbors on May 15, 1948• Other wars broke out in 1956, 1967, & 1973• Conflict introduced the idea of “terrorism” to

the world, Israeli athletes murdered at the Munich Olympics in 1972

Israel & Palestine…• 1982- Israel invades Lebanon to attack Palestinian strongholds• 1987- First Intifada- Unarmed Palestinians revolt against

Israeli rule of Gaza & the West Bank, throw rocks @ soldiers & police

• 1993- Oslo Accords- Established a timeline & plan for peaceful coexistence with Palestinians, Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated in 1995 over this

• 2000- Second Intifada- Oslo Accords failed due to hardliners on both sides, second revolt erupts

Israel Since 2000

• 2005- Israel pulls out of Gaza & builds wall to protect against suicide bombers

• PLO loses elections in Gaza to the militant Hamas• 2006- Israel fights a missile war against Hezbollah in

Lebanon, no clear winner after 33 days• Israel has established a prosperous & stable

democracy with a growing economy & high standard of living

Palestinians

• Displaced by Israel, many refused to leave or were rejected by the Arab nations

• Refuse to recognize Israel as a legitimate nation

• Given control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

• Suicide bombers have frequently attacked Israel from the Palestinian camps

• Israel is currently stepping up “settlement” of these areas

PLO• PLO= Palestinian Liberation

Organization• Founded & led by Yassir

Arafat from 1959 until his death 2004

• The PLO achieved international recognition from the U.N. in 1988

Egypt

• Suez Canal built with the French in 1869 made Egypt’s location even more important in terms of Indian Ocean trade and the rapidly developing oil industry during the early 20th century

•Abdul Gamal Nasser “nationalized” the Suez Canal in 1956 which led to a war with Israel, Britain, & France

Egypt

• Egypt was the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel, Camp David Accords brokered by Jimmy Carter in 1978

• President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981 by Islamic extremists for signing the peace agreement, martial law established by Pres. Mubarak

• Several of the most famous Islamic terrorists have been from Egypt, Mohammed Atta & Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri

Anwar Sadat-EgyptMenachim

Begin-Israel

Egypt Today• 2010 election results disputed by opposition parties• 2011 Protests in Tahrir Square, part of Arab Spring, force

Mubarak to step down. Tried for ordering killing of protestors• 2012 Muslim Brotherhood wins elections, military ends state

of emergency started with Sadat assassination in 1981• 2013 Military overthrows Morsi & Muslim Brotherhood,

religious political parties banned• 2014 General Sisi wins presidential election, human rights still

severely limited

Peace?

• The Middle East is home to all three monotheistic religions & extremes of wealth

• The Middle East has been controlled by various powers throughout recorded history

• The wish to control religious sites has now shifted to the desire to control natural resources and for the people to have a voice in government