Some circles, assessing the attacks carried out by the Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah Movement against Saudi territory since early September and the expansion of their area of control to govern the Red Sea coast and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, claim that these are actions conducted on behalf of Iran to test the Makkah Defence Alliance, of which Saudi Arabia is a founding member.

In this article, the causes of the long-standing internal conflicts in Yemen, recent developments centered around the Houthis, and their connection to the Makkah Defence Alliance will be evaluated.

First of all, it is necessary to emphasize that defining the war waged by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia and the legitimate government forces it supports in Yemen as a conflict between Sunnis and Shiites is a major misconception and an oversimplification. The overthrow of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen—where Zaydi imams ruled the country according to their own sectarian jurisprudence between 1918 and 1962—by Arab nationalist-secular officers, along with the subsequent oppression and marginalization of its supporters, was the main reason that gave birth to the Houthi opposition movement. This movement, which transformed into an armed structure over time, has not been a homogeneous sectarian structure supported solely by Zaydis; rather than sectarian affiliation, it grew through alliances established on the ground based on regional interests, tribal dynamics, and socioeconomic conditions.

Yemen’s Problem: The North-South Divide

Covering an area of 536,869 square kilometers, Yemen’s current population is estimated at approximately 43 million. Almost the entire population of the country is of Semitic/Arab origin and Muslim, with 65–70% being Sunni (Shafi’i school) and 30–35% being Shiite Zaydi.

Historically, the country is divided into two regions: north and south. Although North Yemen is smaller in surface area than South Yemen, more than 85% of the country’s population (35–37 million) lives in this region, while around 12–15% (5–6 million) resides in the south. 55% of the population in North Yemen consists of Sunni (Shafi’i) Muslims, and 45% consists of Zaydi (Shiite) Muslims.

Despite sharing the same ethnic background, there are distinct social and cultural differences between Northern and Southern Yemenis in historical, sociological, tribal, and sectarian terms. Essentially, these differences lie at the root of today’s divisions and conflicts. Without properly understanding this dual structure of society, making assessments about Yemen based solely on current developments will not lead us to a correct conclusion.

South Yemen: Has a coastline open to the Indian Ocean and trade routes. Due to its ongoing trade with India, the Persian Gulf, and East Africa, the population living in the south acquired a more cosmopolitan and merchant identity. The region came under British occupation in 1839; after the British withdrew in 1967, the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen was established under USSR control in 1970. As a result of the Marxist regime systematically liquidating feudal tribal structures and breaking the political power of tribes, an urban, secular, and bureaucratic social structure emerged in the south (especially in port cities like Aden).

North Yemen: Contrary to the seafaring, trade-oriented, and cosmopolitan social structure in the south, a societal structure bound to strict, armed, and hierarchical tribal confederations took shape throughout history in its mountainous geography, where tribal decisions were decisive over individuals. Having remained closed to the outside world for centuries, the people of the region preserved a more homogeneous Arab/Zaydi identity.

Tribes in the north have been governed for centuries by two rival tribal confederations: the Bakil Confederation and the Hashid Confederation. Although both groups are Zaydi by origin, Hashid tribes became Sunnified under Saudi influence starting in the 1970s, becoming a stronghold for the Muslim Brotherhood (Islah Party) and Salafi groups. Bakil tribes, on the other hand, clung tightly to their Zaydi identities against Saudi influence and the Sunni-Salafi initiatives of the central state in Sana’a, and the Saada-centered Houthi movement (Ansarullah) emerged from here as a reaction. President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the elite al-Ahmar family, who managed Yemeni politics for years, belonged to the Hashid tribe.

The North-South divide is also striking regarding the distribution of the country’s resources. More than 80% of Yemen’s underground wealth (oil and natural gas) is located in the southern region; this region possesses critical export ports and facilities important for international trade. For North Yemen, the ports of Hodeidah and Salif on the Red Sea coast serve as the main gateway for all commercial goods and humanitarian aid entering the country, as well as being a significant source of customs and tax revenue.

State-Building Processes and Historical Fractures

The general sociological and economic differences between the two regions directly reflected on their state-building processes. While South Yemen was under British occupation, Ottoman rule prevailed in North Yemen. After the Ottoman Empire lost World War I and withdrew from these lands, North Yemen became independent in 1918 and began to be governed under an Imamate administration in accordance with Zaydi jurisprudence.

In 1962, a military coup carried out by Yemeni officers educated in Egypt abolished the Imamate, replacing it with the Yemen Arab Republic, which had an Arab nationalist-secular character. The coup officers belonged mostly to the Hashid tribe. Zaydis affiliated with the Bakil Confederation were viewed by the new government as traitors who wanted to bring back the old regime and were subjected to oppression.

Following the 1962 coup, a bloody civil war lasting eight years broke out in the country. While the Republicans were supported by Egypt and the Soviet Union, supporters of the Imam were backed by Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The war ended in 1970 with a compromise between the parties and Saudi Arabia’s official recognition of the Yemen Arab Republic. In 1978, a young officer named Ali Abdullah Saleh came to power in North Yemen. During this period, two border wars took place between North Yemen and the communist South in 1972 and 1979.

On May 22, 1990, the two Yemens signed a “Unification Agreement” (Aden Agreement) establishing the Republic of Yemen. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which provided support to the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen in the South, was the driving force behind this unification. According to the agreement, the capital would be Sana’a, and significant political posts would also be given to South Yemeni politicians. Following elections held at the end of 1992, the two countries fully merged; Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former president of North Yemen, was elected president of the new state.

However, due to the failure to fully integrate the Northern and Southern armies, power-sharing crises, and economic hardships, the unification agreement was short-lived. Four years after the agreement (1994), a major civil war broke out between northerners and southerners. The Northern army defeated the south, forcibly re-establishing unity. Despite this, the sense of exclusion and opposition to the administration among the southern population became permanent to this day. President Ali Abdullah Saleh ruled Yemen with an authoritarian regime for 33 years until 2011.

Houthi Discontent and the Six Wars Period

President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s regime applied systematic discrimination against the mountainous regions of North Yemen. While........

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