An extremely suspicious event that happened on such days 25 years ago, would be the prelude to the most serious crisis of Imia, leading Greece and Turkey a breath before the war.
It's Christmas day 1995, the night of December 25th. A Turkish cypress-colored cargo ship named "Figen Akat" accidentally ran aground (?) In shallow water, one breath from Mikri Imia (or Mikro Limni). It is a hitherto insignificant rocky islet of the southeastern Aegean, whose area is about the size of a football field. It cannot be inhabited, it has no smooth soil and of course it does not produce anything. The same goes for the neighboring Megali Just (or Megalo Limni) with the only difference that a little grass comes out of it, so an old man from Kalymnos left his about 30 kids there to graze and visited it regularly to supply the animals with water and extra feed.
As soon as the grounding becomes known, the nearby port authority of Kalymnos, is preparing to send a tug for its detachment, according to the international rescue regulations. But the Turkish captain refuses! He claims that he is in the waters of his homeland and therefore the eastern coast guard must help him. The authorities of Kalymnos are looking for a solution from the highest levels.
It dawns on December 26, Thursday. The Port Authority informs the competent directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about everything, which in turn communicates through the Secretary of the Greek Embassy in Ankara Ioannis Papameletiou with the Directorate of Greek Affairs of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The captain and crew are in danger at sea if they do not accept the help of our tug that is ready to detach the ship," they say. It should be noted that Alkis Kourkoulas in his book "Imia, a critical approach of the Turkish factor" (published by I. Sideris) explains the refusal of the captain by submitting an additional interpretation. If he accepted the detachment from a Greek tug he would have to pay $ 300.000 to $ 400.000.
The answer given by the Head of the Greek Affairs Department of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmet Bangouglou, the next day, December 27, 1995, makes everyone think. He calls the advisor of the Greek embassy in Ankara, Alexandros Kougiou and tells him that regardless of who would undertake the rescue of the ship, there is a general issue of ownership of Imia. It is clear that something is wrong.
Finally, on December 28, two Greek tugs actually detach the cargo ship, but the conflict on the opposite shore of the Aegean has just begun. The truck in question "Figen Akat" is accompanied by Greek boats to the port of Kiuluk.
Coincidentally, in the morning of the same day, a Turkish F-4 Phantom fighter plane crashes into the territorial waters of Lesvos, fully equipped. He took part in an air battle with Greek fighters defending our airspace, which he had violated. In fact, the Turkish pilot is saved thanks to the Greek help.
It is noteworthy that the political situation in both Athens and Ankara is tense. The Prime Minister of the country Andreas Papandreou has been hospitalized since mid-November at the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center without any contact with the environment for most of the days and in the background the PASOK dolphin succession race has already started. In fact, New Democracy issues a statement in which it points out that Greece can not remain ungovernable because the leaders of the movement do not dare to assume their responsibilities.
On the other hand, in Ankara in those days the processes between the parties for the formation of an allied government are at their peak, since no party has the required majority. In the December 24 election, Nezmedin Erbakan's Islamic Welfare Party won 21,32%, Mesut Gilmaz's Motherland's party 19,65%, Tansu Ziller's Righteous Party 19,2%, the Bulent Ecevit's Democratic Left 14,66% and Deniz Baikal's Republican People's Party 10,71%.
On December 29, in a verbal statement of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the corresponding Greek, it is claimed that the two islets belong to them and that they are registered in the cadastre of the prefecture of Bodrum in Bodrum. In Athens, the Council of Ministers is meeting under the chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization Akis Tsochatzopoulos, who "dealt with the planning of 1996" as mentioned in a relevant announcement.
A few twenty-four hours later the United States makes its first formal intervention, As the journalist Costas Mardas recalls in his own book entitled "Pre-Imia War: From September to the Imia Crisis (1955-1996)" (published by To Pontiki) on January 4, 1996 by US President Bill Clinton in a letter to the Greek senators who were protesting the sale of US ATCMS (Tactical Missile Systems) missiles to Turkey, he told them that the specific weapons systems were related to the defense against Iraq, Syria and Iran.
However, he pointed out the possibility of a Greek-Turkish conflict. "We continue to urge Ankara and Athens to adopt confidence-building measures that would prevent the escalation of an incident in the Aegean," he said meaningfully.
About three weeks later, and while in the meantime the Greek answer for the acquisition of Imia has been delivered to Turkey through diplomatic channels, the mayor of Kalymnos Dimitris Diakomichalis, accompanied by the police director and two inhabitants of the island, goes to Mikri Imia and what he hears being said about his area, raises the Greek flag. It is January 25, 1996. A few hours later the blue and white wave in Megali Imia.
Turkish channels broadcast the images, causing upset in the public opinion of the neighbor. Two journalists of the popular newspaper Hurriyet go on the 27th of the month by chartered helicopter to Mikri Imia. They lower our flag and raise the Turkish one. The whole event is videotaped and made around the world.
Athens is necessarily dragged into the "game" of flags. He sends a Navy patrol to the area and submits to the crescent. But the uniformed crew is not enough for that. Takes the initiative to reposition the Greek flag, violating political orders. The Turks are multiplying the floating ships, so on the night of January 28, Greek frogmen climb a rocky islet, so that they now have to guard our flag.
As the national symbols go up and down, significant rearrangements are recorded in the central political scene of the country. The seriously ill Andreas Papandreou has resigned as prime minister and is being replaced by 60-year-old modernist Costas Simitis.
On the afternoon of Monday, January 29, he reads in the Plenary Session of the Parliament the program statements of his government and sends a message to Ankara that he will react immediately to any further challenge.. On Tuesday, the 50-year-old Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Çiller will clarify in the National Assembly of her country that "the next day the Greek flag will not fly in Kardak (= Imia)". The situation is out of control. If no immediate solution is found, a conflict is expected.
The same afternoon, the Greek channels broadcast live the exit of our fleet from the channel of the Salamina port. 4/5 of our large ships sail with armor and head quickly to the southeastern Aegean to face the Turks who at the same time sail from Izmir withdrawing 50% of their forces. The order given by the governors to the General Staff of the Navy is clear: "You have targeted every Turkish unit." In Evros and in the islands of the eastern Aegean, local reserves are being mobilized.
On the night of January 30-31, the military and political leadership are in a permanent meeting in the prime minister's office in Parliament (and not in the specially designed Pentagon Operations Center in such cases, in order to ρας give it the character of a war council), while millions of civilians remain vigilant anxious about developments.
At 01:40 on the morning of January 31, Turkish special forces landed in Megali Imia, while at 05:30 a.m. A Greek Navy helicopter, which was killed by the frigate "Navarino" to verify the information of the presence of Turks on the islet, crashes while trying to return to its base under adverse weather conditions.
All three crew members are killed: Lieutenant Christodoulos Karathanasis, Lieutenant Panagiotis Vlachakos and Chief Hector Gialopsos. Many views have been expressed regarding the causes of the fatal helicopter crash.
However, the official position of the Navy is that it crashed due to bad weather and loss of pilot orientation (the so-called vertigo).
The crisis will be eased with the intervention of the United States. The US Deputy Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs Richard Holbrooke All these hours he is in constant telephone communication with the political leaderships of Greece and Turkey. At dawn the superpower imposes its will. "No ships, no troops, no flags" (will say "no ships, no troops, no flags"). Athens and Ankara agree. Shortly before sunrise, the fleets leave the burnt zone of Imia.
* Georgios Sarris is a journalist - member of ESIEA, honored by the President of the Republic with the Ath. Botsis Award for the objective and complete presentation of historical political issues.