By Konstantinos Kolokotronis.
Today marks 26 years since the culmination of the Greek-Turkish Imia crisis of 1996. Turkish claims over the Imia (Kardak) islets whose sovereignty had been transferred by Italy to Greece through the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty, which named Greece as the successor state of all Dodecanese islands in the Aegean, became the ground cause for a heavily militarized crisis at the centre of which laid the uninhabited Imia/Kardak islets.
The crisis that ultimately brought the two neighbouring countries and NATO allies on the brink of war started officially on the 25th of December 1995 when the Turkish tugboat, “Figen Akat” ran aground (allegedly by accident) close to Imia. Following an intense diplomatic standoff, it becomes evident that the Turkish foreign ministry had officially disputed the sovereignty of Imia for the first time since the acquisition of the islets by Greece. Although, Turkey had not risen this issue before and despite the fact that official Turkish maps indicated clearly that Imia is indeed Greek, Turkey had decided to capitalize on the aforementioned accident to promote, as it was interpreted by Greece, an expansionist agenda.
On the 25th of January 1996, the major of Kalimnos (Greek island of the Dodecanese close to Imia) lands on the smaller islet (Mikri Imia) and raises the Greek flag. Two days later, reporters of the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet land on the islet and raise the Turkish flag, having lowered the Greek one.
Another day passes, another flag is raised. This time, a patrol boat of the Greek Navy lowers the Turkish flag and raises the Greek one, while Greek commandos are deployed on the islet.
Greece’s new Prime Minister Costas Simitis later signals a message to Turkey that Greece will respond immediately and vigorously to any challenge over its territorial sovereignty. Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, meanwhile, called for negotiations on the status of the Aegean islets, using the opportunity to promote the novel theory of “grey zones” suggesting sovereignty over a number of rocks and islets in the Aegean has not been legally determined. Even though it became soon evident that this newest theory could not stand scrutiny under international law, Turkey deployed a significant number of warships in the area, violating Greek territorial waters. The crisis has just reached its zenith.
A series of intense negotiations follow, mediated by US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs, Richard Holbrooke. The Greek government committed to defusing the crisis while attempting to invalidate Turkish attempts to undermine Greek sovereignty over Imia, agrees to withdraw all deployed naval units but maintains that the Greek flag has to remain.
On January 31, Greek forces receive information that Turkish commandos are landing in the second unguarded Imia islet. Indeed, Turkish commandos managed to swim between the opposing Greek and Turkish fleets and land on the larger islet (Megali Imia). A bizarre situation had unravelled as the Greek commandos were deployed on the eastern islet and Turkish forces had occupied the western one. A helicopter of the Greek Navy confirmed a few hours later that around 10 Turkish commandos stood on the island with their flag. That same helicopter later took damage and disappeared, killing three Greek crew members. To this day, the causes for the helicopter’s sudden fall remain disputed with the majority of the Greek public opinion holding the belief that the Naval helicopter.
The US-led diplomatic intervention demanded, at noon, 31 January 1996, that the ships, soldiers, and flags be withdrawn from Imia. Although the crisis had officially no effect on the status of the islands, its sovereignty is still in dispute by both nations. Currently, the islands are regarded as indisputably Greek by Greece but as grey zones of undetermined sovereignty by Turkey.
Sources:
A tale of two islets: The Imia incident between Greece and Turkey
http://www.hri.org/MFA/thesis/spring97/two_islets.html
Imia Crisis: A battle between flags
https://greekherald.com.au/culture/imia-crisis-a-battle-between-flag/
Hellenic Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Issues of Greek - Turkish Relations: Turkish claims: https://www.mfa.gr/en/issues-of-greek-turkish-relations/relevant-documents/turkish-claims.html
Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Background Note on Aegean Disputes https://www.mfa.gov.tr/background-note-on-aegean-disputes.en.mfa
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