Imia () is a pair of small uninhabited islets in the Aegean Sea, situated between the Greek island chain of the Dodecanese and the southwestern mainland coast of Turkey. They are known in Turkey as Kardak.
Imia was the object of a military crisis and subsequent dispute over sovereignty between Greece and Turkey in 1996. The Imia dispute is part of the larger Aegean dispute, which also comprises disputes over the continental shelf, the territorial waters, the air space, the Flight Information Regions (FIR) and the demilitarization of the Aegean islands. In the aftermath of the Imia crisis, the dispute was also widened, as Turkey began to lay parallel claims to a larger number of other islets in the Aegean. These islands, some of them inhabited, are regarded as indisputably Greek by Greece but as grey zones of undetermined sovereignty by Turkey.
Geography The islets lie east of the Greek island Kalymnos, southeast of the Greek island of Kalolimnos, west of the Turkish peninsula of Bodrum, and from the Turkish islet of Çavuş Adası. The islets lie some apart from each other, the eastern one being slightly larger than the western one. Their total surface area is .
The islands are also referred to as Limnia (Λίμνια) in Greek, or İkizce in Turkish, or as Heipethes in some early-20th century maps.Yüksel İnan, Sertaç Başeren (1997): Status of Kardak Rocks. Kardak Kayalıklarının statüsü. Ankara. (). The toponym "Kardak" is believed to come from the Greek "Kar(y)dakia", i.e. "small walnuts", because of their shape."Professor I. Promponas stresses the greekness of the ... turkish name" (Ο καθηγητής Ι. Προμπονάς επισημαίνει την ελληνικότητα του ... τουρκικού ονόματος. Τί Ύμεια τί... Καρ(υ)δάκια". newspaper Ta Nea, July 1st, 1997 "The Kardakia were called so by the Greeks of Asia Minor. The Turks were calling them Kardak. Recently they renamed them to Ikince (meaning "double") obviously realizing that Kardak is of Greek origin" (quoting prof. I. Promponas)
Background
While several other aspects of sovereignty rights in the Aegean, such as the territorial waters and national airspace, had been disputed between the two countries for decades, conflicts over the possession of island territory were unknown until the end of 1995. The dispute over Imia arose when, on 26 December 1995, the Turkish cargo ship Figen Akat accidentally ran aground on the east islet and had to be salvaged.
A Greek tugboat responded to the distress call. The Turkish captain initially refused the assistance offered, maintaining that he was within Turkish territorial waters. He ultimately accepted being towed to the Turkish port of Güllük by the Greek tugboat. The Greek captain filled in the necessary papers for the salvage fee but the Turkish captain objected, arguing that the freighter had been in Turkish waters.
On 27 December, the Turkish Foreign Ministry notified the Greek authorities that it believed there was a sovereignty issue, and on 29 December it declared the islets Turkish territory. On January 9, Athens rejected the claim, citing the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), the Convention between Italy and Turkey (1932) and the Treaty of Paris (1947).
The whole event was barely reported in the media so it was not widely known to public until a month later, on 20 January 1996 when the Greek magazine GRAMMA ran a story, one day after Kostas Simitis was appointed to form a new Greek government as prime minister. The article brought a severe reaction from the Greek press, which was followed by four citizens of the neighboring island of Kalymnos, including the mayor and the owner of a herd of sheep that remained on the islets, hoisting a Greek flag on the east islet on 25 January.
To oppose this, on 28 January some Turkish journalists from Hürriyet landed on the islet with a helicopter, lowered the Greek flag and hoisted a Turkish flag, the whole event being broadcast live on Turkish television. Later, the Greek Navy patrol boat Antoniou lowered the Turkish flag and restored the Greek flag, in violation of the political order which was only to lower the Turkish flag, resulting in an exchange of fierce statements by the Turkish prime minister Tansu Çiller and the new Greek prime minister Kostas Simitis. Turkish and Greek naval forces were alerted and warships of both countries, both NATO members, sailed to the islets.
Nationalistic media seem to have played a role in inciting weak governments in Greece and Turkey to take action over the islets. The Greek government had recently completed two months of limbo induced by former Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou's prolonged illness, which resulted in his resignation. After only one week, the Costas Simitis government, which was still developing its identity, experienced the crisis. In contrast, Turkey's national election in late December was a stalemate, with competing leaders unable to reach an agreement on a new coalition administration. The opposition Islamist Refah party won the most votes and dominated negotiations and other events. Tansu Ciller led an interim administration without a mandate until a new one was formed. The political uncertainty in Athens and Ankara made them exposed to predatory press, enabling the issue to quickly escalate. Greece and Turkey accused each other of using domestic uncertainty for hostile actions.
Military crisis
During the crisis, in the night of 28 January, Greek special forces landed secretly on the east islet undetected. On the 30th of January, Turkish and Greek officials gave statements, each insisting on their sovereign rights on Imia. Also, Turkish armored units moved to the Green Line on Cyprus, which caused the alert of the Cypriot National Guard. On 31 January at 1:40 am Turkish special forces SAT Commandos also landed on the west islet escalating the tensions. Around 3 hours later, a Hellenic Navy Bell 212, took off from the Greek frigate Navarino for reconnaissance. The Greek SEALs confirmed the presence of Turkish forces and were ordered to return to the ship where during its return the helicopter crashed over the islets (some speculating due to Turkish fire), but this was concealed by both states to prevent further escalation, although three Greek officers on the helicopter were killed: Christodoulos Karathanasis, Panagiotis Vlahakos, and Ektoras Gialopsos.
The immediate military threat was defused primarily by American officials—in particular, US envoy Richard Holbrooke, working by telephone with officials of both sides during the final hours of the crisis. The Greeks and Turks did not speak directly to one another but were responsive to Washington's assistance as an informal intermediary. Agreement was given by both sides to the United States to return to the "status quo ante"—i.e., differing views on sovereignty and no military forces on the islets. Greek and Turkish officials provided assurances to the United States that their military forces on and arrayed around the islets would be removed, with the U.S. agreeing to monitor the withdrawal.Greece, Turkey pull back warships, CNN.com, 31 January 1996. While US engagement was instrumental in defusing the crisis, the fundamental territorial issue has remained unresolved since that time.
Despite calls from the UN Secretary General and NATO Secretary General for a peaceful resolution, the agreement succeeded after President Clinton's phone calls to the leaders of both countries, along with intensive diplomacy from Holbrooke. Holbrooke stated that while President Clinton was on the phone with Athens and Ankara, Europeans were sleeping through the night. Adding that Europe's inability to take meaningful action in its own theater raises questions.
Aftermath
The crisis had a significant impact on Greece's domestic and foreign affairs. The Greek government weakened with the Greek opposition and media criticizing it, and the incident was viewed by the Greek population as a "national humiliation". The Greek Chief of Staff was sacked, primarily for making public comments on government talks during the crisis. Many Greeks considered the United States' neutral stance as equal to siding with Turkey. Furthermore, Greece was skeptical of the Europeans' seeming neutrality.
The Turkish government claimed victory, although Refah criticized it for succumbing to US pressure. Ciller's popularity increased, but she still couldn't form a government, and made a coalition with the Motherland Party.
Holbrooke was planning to travel to Greece and Turkey to defuse tensions, but he had to cancel his trip because the Greek government wanted to mitigate its political setbacks and appease critics by disregarding Holbrooke.
Later, a Turkish navy officer appeared to question Greece's control of the island of Gavdos during a NATO planning meeting. Greece responded by demanding that Turkey disavow any claims to Gavdos. Even though the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Gavdos was a technical rather than a political matter, Turkish authorities began alluding to "grey areas"; that is, islets and rocks that are not specifically mentioned in treaties. They then asserted that there were 130 of these islands and rocks.
Following the crisis, many efforts have been made to resolve Aegean disputes and improve bilateral relations.
Later tensions
In January 2016, Greek Defence Minister, Panos Kammenos, flew over eastern Aegean Sea in a military helicopter and threw a wreath into the sea around the islets where the three Greek Navy officers were killed in 1996.
In December 2016, Turkey's Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said that the islets were "Turkish soil", while the Greek government responded that "Greece's sovereignty over its islands in the Aegean, including Imia, is indisputable and established by international law." European Commission spokesperson said that the EU is urging Turkey to avoid any kind of “source of friction, threat or action directed against a member-state, which damages good-neighborly relations and the peaceful settlement of disputes.”
Tensions around the islets were renewed in January 2017, in light of deterioration of Greco–Turkish relations following Greek refusal to extradite participants of the failed 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt to Turkey. A Turkish navy missile boat accompanied with two special-forces speedboats entered the area around the islets on 29 January 2017. According to the statement issued by the Defence Ministry of Greece, they were blocked and warned by Greek coast guard vessels and withdrew from the area after about seven minutes. The Turkish armed forces denied that the ships were blocked but did not otherwise deny the incident; they stated that the mission was a part of an inspection of the Aksaz Naval Base by chief of General Staff Hulusi Akar, who was on board at the time.
In February 2018, Greek authorities said that a Turkish coast guard patrol vessel rammed a Greek coast guard boat near the islets. Nobody was injured, but the Greek vessel suffered damage to the stern where the Turkish boat rammed it with its bow. Greece complained to Turkey about the incident. Turkey's Foreign Ministry denied the Turkish vessel was at fault. It said the Greek statement misled Greece's own public and distorted the truth “as always”. The next day footage was revealed showing the Turkish patrol boat ramming the Greek boat. Also, Turkey has started to build a watchtower, a facility to accommodate soldiers and a pier on the nearby islet of Çavuş Adası. Thermal cameras will be installed on the island to enable the Turkish Coast Guard to monitor naval activities around the islets.
Legal status