Provocative remarks fuel claims of external influence in Yemen’s Socotra,
SOCOTRA, June 18 (YPA) – Socotra’s governor, Raafat Al-Thaqali, has sparked on Wednesday controversy and public anger in Yemen after remarks questioning the archipelago’s historical affiliation with Yemen.
Al-Thaqali, who holds Emirati citizenship, said during a political symposium held in Aden and sponsored by Saudi Arabia that Socotra Island is “geographically and culturally closer to Somalia than to Yemen, adding that there is no clear historical evidence of its administrative dependency on Yemen.
He further suggested that the Island’s identity has been overstated in its connection to the Yemeni state.
His comments were met with strong criticism from Yemeni political figures and activists, who described them as a new public stab at Yemeni sovereignty, and an attempt to legitimize the separation of the archipelago according to the Zionist project in the region.
Political sources also linked the remarks to broader regional rivalries and competing influence over Socotra, noting ongoing tensions involving local armed factions and external backers.
In parallel, political activist Saeed Al-Rumaili questioned the silence of regional actors over the statements, asking why the governor’s remarks were made in a Saudi-hosted forum and whether this reflects broader acceptance of shifting influence dynamics in the archipelago.
Socotra, located east of the Gulf of Aden, is widely recognized in geological studies as part of a natural formation separated from the Arabian Peninsula millions of years ago.
AA