On this day, on January 31, 1996, during the Imia Crisis, three Greek officers patrolling the tense situation from a Navy helicopter were killed in the line of duty while defending Greece from Turkish aggression. We remember Christodoulos Karathanasis, Panagiotis Vlahakos, and Ektoras Gialopsos.
On December 26, 1995, the Turkish cargo ship 'Figen Akat' accidentally ran aground on Eastern Imia and had to be salvaged. The captain of the ship refused help from a Greek tugboat that happened upon the scene, stating that they were in Turkish waters. A protracted argument ensued. Eventually, the captain of the Turkish ship agreed and accepted to be towed back to Turkey by the Greek tugboat, but the captain still insisted that they were in Turkish waters. Eventually, the issue seemed to be over. Greek media did not even find this incident interesting enough to report on it, but eventually did so one month later.
When Greek media reported the incident on January 20, 1996, it resulted in heated political arguments as the entire country had remained unaware that a foreign ship questioned Greek sovereignty - especially one from Turkey. As such, on January 25, 1996, a small group of concerned Greeks, including the mayor of the neighboring island of Kalymnos, went to Eastern Imia and raised the Greek flag so that other ships running aground in the area would know that they were clearly within Greek waters.
The Imia Crisis started on January 27, 1996, when Turkish journalists from the newspaper "Hürriyet," opposing the raising of the Greek flag on Eastern Imia days earlier, questioned Greek national sovereignty on the uninhabited islands. They went to Eastern Imia by helicopter, took down the Greek flag that was flying there, and raised a Turkish flag. The picture of the Turkish flag flying over Greek territory was widely distributed in Turkish media. This dangerous publicity stunt by the Hürriyet journalists took place as the Turkish Foreign Ministry sent a note to Athens stating that there is a sovereignty issue.
The Greek Armed Forces mobilized the next day, January 28, and a Greek patrol boat raised the Greek flag again in Eastern Imia, while it was decided to land frogmen to guard it. However, Western Imia was left unguarded and the Turks respectively sent their own frogmen on January 31 to occupy it.
On January 29, 1996, Turkey made a public announcement declaring the two islands Turkish territories.
Throughout the night of January 30th to the early morning of January 31st, a Greek Navy helicopter was dispatched to inspect the area, because there was information that Turkish frogmen had arrived there. However, the helicopter makes its last radio contact at around 5:01am and eventually crashed under strange circumstances sometime before 5:30am. The three crew members were killed.
The official version of the Greek side was that "the helicopter crashed due to bad weather conditions", but the widespread position is that the Turkish frogmen opened fire and shot it down. The last words of the pilot were only in relation to a sudden, unknown emergency [1]. Both Greece and Turkey to this day have kept the circumstances of the helicopter crash a national secret.
The US intervened with President Bill Clinton calling Athens and Ankara, ordering the withdrawal of the forces of both countries from the area. Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis stated on February 1st in the Greek parliament that he thanked the United States for their help. From then on, however, the so-called "graying of the Aegean" officially began, with the results of that crisis.
American diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke involved in mediation talks during this crisis was dumbfounded at Europe's lack of response, later stating: "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." [2]
Memory eternal for the heroes of Imia, Karathanasis, Vlahakos and Gialopsos.
On December 26, 1995, the Turkish cargo ship 'Figen Akat' accidentally ran aground on Eastern Imia and had to be salvaged. The captain of the ship refused help from a Greek tugboat that happened upon the scene, stating that they were in Turkish waters. A protracted argument ensued. Eventually, the captain of the Turkish ship agreed and accepted to be towed back to Turkey by the Greek tugboat, but the captain still insisted that they were in Turkish waters. Eventually, the issue seemed to be over. Greek media did not even find this incident interesting enough to report on it, but eventually did so one month later.
When Greek media reported the incident on January 20, 1996, it resulted in heated political arguments as the entire country had remained unaware that a foreign ship questioned Greek sovereignty - especially one from Turkey. As such, on January 25, 1996, a small group of concerned Greeks, including the mayor of the neighboring island of Kalymnos, went to Eastern Imia and raised the Greek flag so that other ships running aground in the area would know that they were clearly within Greek waters.
The Imia Crisis started on January 27, 1996, when Turkish journalists from the newspaper "Hürriyet," opposing the raising of the Greek flag on Eastern Imia days earlier, questioned Greek national sovereignty on the uninhabited islands. They went to Eastern Imia by helicopter, took down the Greek flag that was flying there, and raised a Turkish flag. The picture of the Turkish flag flying over Greek territory was widely distributed in Turkish media. This dangerous publicity stunt by the Hürriyet journalists took place as the Turkish Foreign Ministry sent a note to Athens stating that there is a sovereignty issue.
The Greek Armed Forces mobilized the next day, January 28, and a Greek patrol boat raised the Greek flag again in Eastern Imia, while it was decided to land frogmen to guard it. However, Western Imia was left unguarded and the Turks respectively sent their own frogmen on January 31 to occupy it.
On January 29, 1996, Turkey made a public announcement declaring the two islands Turkish territories.
Throughout the night of January 30th to the early morning of January 31st, a Greek Navy helicopter was dispatched to inspect the area, because there was information that Turkish frogmen had arrived there. However, the helicopter makes its last radio contact at around 5:01am and eventually crashed under strange circumstances sometime before 5:30am. The three crew members were killed.
The official version of the Greek side was that "the helicopter crashed due to bad weather conditions", but the widespread position is that the Turkish frogmen opened fire and shot it down. The last words of the pilot were only in relation to a sudden, unknown emergency [1]. Both Greece and Turkey to this day have kept the circumstances of the helicopter crash a national secret.
The US intervened with President Bill Clinton calling Athens and Ankara, ordering the withdrawal of the forces of both countries from the area. Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis stated on February 1st in the Greek parliament that he thanked the United States for their help. From then on, however, the so-called "graying of the Aegean" officially began, with the results of that crisis.
American diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke involved in mediation talks during this crisis was dumbfounded at Europe's lack of response, later stating: "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." [2]
Memory eternal for the heroes of Imia, Karathanasis, Vlahakos and Gialopsos.
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