As unlikely as it may seem, a dispute over salvage rights between Turkish and Greek captains triggered a series of events that escalated into a major international incident known as the Imia Crisis in late January 1996.
The quickly spiraling crisis saw the deployment of both countries’ special forces, the involvement of the United States, and the tragic loss of three Greek officers.
On December 26, 1995, the Turkish cargo vessel Figen Akat ran aground on the easternmost point of the two islets of Imia, which are just seven kilometers (4.4 miles) away from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey.
When a Greek tugboat approached to help, the Turkish captain insisted that the tug was in his country’s territorial waters. After the disabled 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 December 27, 1995, 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.
What made the Imia situation different was how the situation escalated, involving the U.S., European Union, and political leadership of both countries.
Athens denied the Turkish sovereignty claim, citing a range of international treaties from 1923, 1932, and 1947, but it was not until later in January 1996 that events took a turn for the worse.
“Flag Wars” on Imia between Greece and Turkey
Having gone largely unnoticed at first, the Greek press seized on the issue, which became the first to confront new Greek premier Kostas Simitis. On January 25, 1996, Greeks who lived on the nearby island of Kalymnos sailed to Imia and raised the Greek flag there.
Turkish media suddenly took notice, and on January 27, a team of reporters from the newspaper Hurriyet was dispatched to the islets (called “Kardak” in Turkish) to unfurl their own country’s flag on live television.
The Greek Navy intervened the next day, sailing to the islets and replacing the Turkish flag as an increasingly feverish atmosphere gripped both countries. Brand-new Greek Prime Minister Simitis began to trade barbs with his Turkish counterpart, Tansu Ciller.
Naval vessels from both nations then sailed to the hotspot, and Turkish troops in northern Cyprus were reported to have moved closer to the island’s dividing line, prompting an alert from Greek Cypriot forces.
Greek special forces then landed on Imia and, on January 31st, Turkish forces followed suit. Four hours later, the crisis claimed its first lives, as a helicopter from the Greek frigate “Navarino” crashed while on a reconnaissance mission.
Three officers onboard the helicopter, Christodoulos Karathanasis, Panagiotis Vlahakos and Ektoras Gialopsos, were killed in the mishap.
Although the incident was covered up at the time, there are allegations that the helicopter had been fired upon by Turkish forces.
U.S. intervention: “No ships, no troops, no flags” agreement
It was only the shuttle diplomacy between Greece and Turkey by the U.S., as NATO’s largest military power, that halted the escalations and returned the situation to an enduring and frosty stalemate.
The U.S. intervention is often cited as a masterclass in “telephone diplomacy,” primarily led by then-Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke.
The U.S. goal was to create a “cooling off” period before a stray shot could trigger a full-scale conflict. Holbrooke’s approach was blunt, famously telling the leaders that a war over “two rocks” was unacceptable.
The U.S. brokered a specific deal known as the “No ships, no troops, no flags” agreement. This was the cornerstone of the de-escalation:
- No ships: Both navies had to withdraw their vessels from the immediate vicinity.
- No troops: Commandos from both sides (who had occupied the islets) had to evacuate.
- No flags: Both the Greek and Turkish flags were to be removed to restore the status quo ante.
Greece and Turkey continue to disagree on the islets’ sovereignty and no military forces are stationed there. However, the issue continues to lead to dog fights between Athens and Ankara, often coming to the fore whenever Greek and Turkish ships or military forces come into close contact in the Aegean.
Despite both being members of NATO, Greece and Turkey have been at loggerheads for decades over a long series of issues, including complex maritime boundary disputes that led them to the brink of war in 1987 and in 1996. In 2020, tension over drilling rights led to Greek and Turkish warships shadowing each other in the eastern Mediterranean.
Recently, the two sides have made concerted efforts to reduce tensions, with the Greek and Turkish leaders meeting several times. In December 2023, the two countries signed more than a dozen cooperation deals during a meeting in Athens between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Related: Turkey’s Challenge of Greece’s Sovereignty Illustrated in 16 Maps
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