TNT History Archives: Italian Red Sea Aid to Yemeni Rebels (1885-1912)

//Ed. note:  Ali Rıza Seyfi, a Young Turk intellectual who 
was himself once an Ottoman naval officer, wrote this 
article in October 1912, the same month Turkey's war 
with Italy over Libya was formally concluded.  

The article focuses on the Ottoman State's long-standing
problems with Italian activities in the Red Sea, where 
Italian-flagged Arab 'sambuk' (sailing vessels) shipped 
contraband and weapons to anti-Ottoman Arab rebels in 
Yemen and the Hijaz.  

Battle of Beirut click here for background. This February
1912 'battle' was really a demolishing of Ottoman naval
assets at Beirut by the Italian Navy, which aimed to 
prevent Ottoman interference with Italian troop and 
supply ships heading to its East Africa colonies through
the Suez Canal.

Italy's Massawa & Ottoman Hodeidah click here for the
first part of a recent 3-part TNT series. The third and final 
part is provided at the end of this transcription-translation 
of Ali Rıza Seyfi's article, which does not include his 
'Wikipedia'- like discussion of Somalia's vital statistics,
without any geopolitical commentary .// 



                                            'Sambuk'

Our Red Sea Neighbors

Italy's Colony in East Africa and the Country of Somalia

The colony named Eritrea, located in northeast Africa and across 

from Ottoman lands along the Arabian Red Sea coast, presents very

important and nearby problems for the politics and security of our

Yemen and Hijaz provinces.  

Actually, it would be appropriate to say that since the Italians came 

here 23 or 24 years ago, the Ottoman State's authority over the Red

Sea has suffered.  This is because the Italians didn't just occupy the

land on the other side of the Red Sea.  Rather than being a good and

honorable neighbor,  Italy suddenly became the tyrannical protector

of all the suspicious Arab 'sambuk' (sail vessels) that have skirted 

Ottoman law to carry contraband across the water.  

Actually, the Italians have gradually proven to be a friend for the 

predominantly Moslem populace there, as they have expanded their 

rule and influence.  They have attacked and harassed the Christians 

(Ethiopians) and won over the Arabs by letting them fly the Italian 

flag on their boats, as they have done for other Arabs in the Red Sea,

Tripoli and even as far away as Basra.  The Arabs know that flying

the Italian flag gives them protection against justified or unjustified 

interference and attacks from the ships of other states.  

So by actually, rather than virtually, allowing the Arabs to fly their flag,

the Italians became their governmental protector in the Red Sea, at our 

expense, readily enabled by the abominable policies, heedlessness 

and downright ignorance of the Ottoman State at that time.  We didn't

see the need for naval exercises and harsh protests and it was enough

for the Italians to tell their naval and army commanders, and officials 

posted along the Red Sea coast, to avoid direct provocation of the 

Ottoman State.


İmam Yahya, front - second from right, led the anti-Ottoman 
Yemeni rebels for years.

But now, as then, these Arab 'sambuk' sailing vessels still traffic in 

weapons, slaves, tobacco and other contraband in the Red Sea, thanks

to their protector.  The bloody uprisings in Yemen have been fueled 

by the modern weapons and ammunition brought in by the Arab

'sambuk' boats that land along the long, dangerous coasts of Yemen 

and the Hijaz, where the Bedouins who live there can easily move 

the goods into the interior.  

In addition, the coast of the new Italian colony (Somalia) has become

a warehouse for European weapons, alcohol and ammunition, 

facilitated by rascals tempted with gold.  So even if one of our slow-

moving Ottoman gunboats manages to come up alongside a 'sambuk' 

loaded with tobacco or ammunition, and despite the efforts of our 

officers and crew members who recognize the boat's false documents

and bring the vessel into Hodeidah port, the Italian consul there
objects because the Italian flag is flying from the mast.   

//Ed. note: for more on the Italian consul general in Hodeidah see
Part III of a recent TNT series: Italian CG in Hodeidah