Greek and Turkish coastguard vessels came face to face again. According to a report on defencenet, coastguard vessels from Greece and Turkey clashed in the area of Imia on December 26, and a "mini" battle broke out for the second time in less than three months.
The incident began when Greek fishing boats from Kalymnos and Leros decided to throw their fishing nets in the area near Imia in hopes of cashing in on a good catch. Soon after they did this, they were surprised to see a Turkish coastguard vessel, which rushed to the area and demanded that they leave immediately because they were fishing without a license "in Turkish territorial waters."
The threats promoted the fishermen to immediately contact the Hellenic Coastguard and as soon as they arrived the coastguard vessels began chasing each other around the Greek fishing boats, placing the fishermen at harms way. One source apparently also told defencenet that a second Turkish vessel arrived on the scene to back up the Turkish boat, adding more tension to the scene.
Once again, the Turkish vessel attempted to ram the Greek coastguard, but our officers put up a pretty good fight, and confronted the situation with calmness and logic.
The fishermen were not that lucky though. They unfortunately decided to call it a day and sailed back to their islands without a catch to their names, since there were not enough forces to protect them.
Some may recall that a similar incident occurred in late September of this year near the island of Farmakonisi. At the time, the Slovenians on board a FRONTEX ship that was patrolling the eastern area of Farmakonisi island to scare away pirate boats that were smuggling illegal immigrants into Greece, were shocked when they received a command from the Turkish side to abandon the area immediately because they were sailing in Turkish territorial waters! The FRONTEX officials called the Greek coastguard and in no time they came face-to-face with Turkish authorities and weapons were unlocked. Read more by clicking here.
While several other aspects of sovereignty rights in the Aegean had been a hotly disputed topic between the two countries for decades, conflicts over the possession of actual territory in the area were unknown until the end of 1995. The dispute over Imia arose on the occasion of a naval accident on December 25th, 1995 when the Turkish cargo ship Figen Akat ran ashore on the islets and had to be salvaged.
The whole event was hardly reported by the media and it was not widely known to either the Greek or the Turkish public until a month later, on January 20, 1996 when the Greek magazine GRAMMA ran a story, one day after PASOK leader Costas Simitis was appointed to form the new Greek government as prime minister. The article brought a severe reaction from the Greek press, which was followed by the mayor of Kalymnos and a priest hoisting a Greek flag on the rocks on January 26.
To oppose this, some Turkish TV journalists flew to the islet in a helicopter and raised a Turkish flag, bringing down the Greek one, the whole event being broadcast live on Turkish television. Within 24 hours, the Greek Navy changed the flag (on January 30), resulting in an exchange of fierce statements by the Turkish Prime Minister at the time which was Tansu Ciller and Simitis. Turkish and Greek naval forces were alerted and warships of both countries, both NATO members, sailed to the islets.
During the crisis, at the night of of January 28th, Greek special forces landed secretly on the east islet undetected. On January 31st at 1:40 am Turkish special forces also landed undetected on the west islet and once again changed the flag escalating the tensions, it wasn't until four hours later when the Greeks noticed this when a Greek helicopter took off at 5:30 am from the Greek frigate "Navarino" for reconnaissance. During the mission it crashed (still questionable) over the islets (some speculating due to Turkish fire), but this was concealed by both states to prevent further escalation. Three Greek officers on the helicopter died (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 US agreeing to monitor the withdrawal. While US engagement was instrumental in defusing the crisis, the fundamental territorial issue has remained unresolved since that time.
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