#imia

Unlikely as it may seem, a dispute over salvage rights between Turkish and Greek captains was the trigger for a series of events which escalated into a major international incident.

The spiraling crisis saw the deployment of both countries’ special forces, the involvement of the U.S., and the loss of three Greek officers.

On Dec. 26, 1995, a Turkish cargo vessel “Figen Akat” ran aground on the easternmost point of the two islets, which are just seven kilometers (4.4 miles) from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey.

When a Greek tug approached to help, the Turkish captain insisted he was in his country’s territorial waters. After the vessel was eventually towed to a Turkish port, a routine salvage claim by the Greek skipper began the political wheels turning in the faraway Turkish capital of Ankara.

On Dec. 27, Turkey contacted Greek authorities as a precursor to declaring ownership of the two tiny islets.

The Aegean had already been the backdrop for many years of repeated tensions between the two supposed allies over the ownership of islands, islets, territorial waters, and airspace.

Hopes that tensions between Athens and Ankara could be defused after the recent phone conversation between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim were dashed Monday after the latter again attempted to raise questions about Greek sovereignty over parts of the Aegean.

Yildirim had claimed early Monday morning that the Turkish Coast Guard took down a Greek flag from an Aegean islet in a “disputed area” that was reportedly raised by three Greeks on a speedboat on Friday.

However, Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said that there was no evidence of any “violation of Greek territory” and blasted the statement by Yildirim as “totally provocative and reprehensible,” adding, “Greece will never accept the theory of ‘gray zones’ or any questioning of its territorial sovereignty.”

The small Greek island of Imia was almost the catalyst of war between Greece and Turkey in 1996, and remains a sensitive topic for leaders of both nations.

An issue first arose on Christmas Day in 1995, when a Turkish cargo ship “Figen Akat” hit shallow waters near Eastern Imia and emitted a distress signal. The Greek Coast Guard came to the ship only to be turned away by the captain, who claimed he was in a Turkish area.

The two Foreign Affairs Ministries communicated and worked together to rescue the ship. Thought to have ended there, only three days later a Turkish fighter plane crashed in Greek territorial waters, in the area of ​​Lesvos, after engaging with Greek fighters. With Greek help, the Turkish pilot was rescued.

However, The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs took advantage of the situation and tried to claim the Imia islets as being registered in the Mugla cadastre of Boudrum and belonging to Turkey. On January 9, 1996, The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded, rejecting the announcement.

One week later, Greece sends out vigilance measures in the area of ​​Imia to protect the isles.

With high speed and dangerous maneuvers a Turkish coast guard boat harasses a Greek fishing boat in the broader sea area of the islets of Imia neat the island of Kalymnos.

The Turkish boat sails by at a “breathing distance” from the bow of the fishing boat setting the crew lives in danger.

One of the fishermen films the harassment. He and his colleagues are furious and “decorate” the Turkish sailors with the appropriate …”French.”

A boat of the Greek Coast Guard is nearby and tries to intercept the Turkish boat.

The incident took place on Thursday morning, January 14, 2021.

A Greek and a Turkish vessel collided off the Greek islet of Imia in the south-eastern Aegean on Wednesday.

According to Greek defense sources, the incident involved a boat of the Greek Navy and a Turkish coastguard vessels and occurred in Greek territorial waters.

The newly built Rafnar-type speedboat of the Greek Navy was damaged, the same sources say.

Athens has been downplaying the incident, although an official statement is expected sometime on Thursday.

The circumstances surrounding the collision remain sketchy, with some Turkish news outlets saying that it happened when Greek fishing boats were in the area.

According to Turkish website anterhaber.com, the Turkish coast guard vessel tried to stop Greek fishing boats leading to the intervention of the Hellenic Navy speed boat.