Thirty years have passed since Imia, a night that seemed like a century for Greece. A night where the uninhabited rocky islets of the Aegean Sea turned into a symbol of national tension and geopolitical uncertainty.
In 1996, the country was in a political transition. Andreas Papandreou was seriously ill and Costas Simitis took over as prime minister in the midst of a crisis that would bring Greece and Turkey one step closer to war. January 1996 was a pivotal month for Greek politics. PASOK was in power, but its historic leader Andreas Papandreou was seriously ill.
On January 15, Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou submitted his resignation from Onassis and three days later the PASOK parliamentary group would be called upon to elect his replacement, after a fierce intra-party battle.
The modernizer Costas Simitis takes over as prime minister of the country and is the one who, a few days later, will be called upon to face the worst crisis in Greek-Turkish relations in modern times.
The chronicle of the crisis
The Imia crisis had essentially begun shortly before it ended in 1995.
On Christmas of the same year, a Turkish merchant ship, the Figen Akat, ran aground near the rocky islet of Imia, sending out a distress signal.
The Kalymnos Port Authority sends a tugboat to assist the ship, but the Turkish captain refuses assistance, claiming that he is in Turkish territory.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is informed and in turn notifies the relevant Turkish ministry of the incident.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry is stating that there is a sovereignty issue with the Imia islets. In fact, the Turkish Foreign Ministry makes the following statement: "The Imia islets are registered in the Mugla cadastre of the Bodrum prefecture and belong to Turkey," with the Greek Foreign Ministry rejecting the Turkish statement.
The situation escalates when on January 26, the mayor of Kalymnos, Dimitris Diakomichalis, accompanied by the police director and three residents of the island, raises the Greek flag on one of the two islets.
The next day, two journalists from the Hurriyet newspaper travel by helicopter to Megali Imia, lower the Greek flag and raise the Turkish one live.
Greece responds with the Navy patrol boat "Antonio" lowering the Turkish flag and raising the Greek one.
On the same evening of January 28, a detachment of Navy men landed on the islet to guard the Greek flag.
Turkish warships violate Greek territorial waters and approach Imia.
Greece is making overtures to the European Union and the United States of America.
The government declares its readiness to withdraw the contingent, but not to lower the Greek flag in Imia.
The warships Navarino and Themistocles rush forward.
The Turkish Foreign Minister does not accept the Greek proposal.
Greece and Turkey are on the brink of war.
Greek society is shocked to watch war preparations live on television channels.
Peak of tension
Tensions peak on January 31. Turkish special forces land at one forty in the morning in small Imia and at 4:30 a Greek Navy helicopter flies over the islets to determine if there are indeed Turkish soldiers.
At 4:50 the helicopter crew reports that they have spotted approximately ten Turkish commandos.
He is ordered to return to base and while flying he disappears from radar.
All three crew members are later recovered dead.
Lieutenant Commander Christodoulos Karathanasis, Lieutenant Commander Panagiotis Vlachakos and Chief Petty Officer Hector Gialopsos.
With the intervention of US Undersecretary of State Richard Holbrooke, by noon on January 31, 1996, the ships, soldiers and flags had been withdrawn from Imia.
The Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, Gerasimos Arsenis and Theodoros Pangalos, announce a de-escalation of the crisis with the mediation of the United States of America and the withdrawal of naval forces.
Thirty years later, the Imia crisis still remains a wound in the national collective conscience.
During the Imia crisis (30-31 January 1996), two Greek missile cruisers were placed on immediate alert, in addition to the seven warships already present in the area. Their purpose was to protect Imia and ensure the Greek presence against Turkish forces.
Testimonials
The then Vice Admiral Spyros Konidaris, commander of a missile boat, shared his experience with ΕΡΤnews. As he said, in the early hours of January 31, warships set sail and integrated into the formation around the islands. The missile boats, fully armed with missiles, remote-controlled torpedoes and cannons, were ready to open fire within seconds if given the order.
"During the night, an order was given to see if there were Turks on the island," said Mr. Konidaris, adding that it was decided to take off by helicopter as the weather was getting worse. The helicopter took off and passed over the island 3-4 times. The ships that were near the islands determined that there were Turks on the islets and so the helicopter was ordered to return to the ship Navarino. As it was later determined, 5.2km from the island, the helicopter broke up in the sea.
Ultimately, the tension did not lead to a military conflict, and the ships returned, with the only victims being the helicopter's occupants.
Manos Karyotakis, Brigadier General Iptamenos, was in Crete that night and his testimony is shocking.
"I was in Crete, a young pilot, 25-26 years old. Just two months ago I had finished all the stages of combat training to be ready for war and I was in the large group of aircraft that would take off," he said and added: "It was Sunday and everyone was resting except for two people who were on duty when the phone rang. The order was come in immediately. Things are very serious in the terminology of pilots. When we say come in, it means we go straight to the squadron and we will also need to go to planes. I didn't leave there for 5 days."
"We all knew what we had to do. We had made a perfect design, quite innovative, and I believe that even today some of these elements have not been surpassed," recalls Mr. Karyotakis.
Mr. Karyotakis also said that on January 30, while the wait had reached "red", he asked for permission for a few minutes to go home to say goodbye to his parents, writing a letter to his mother.
Source: ertnews
