Postscript: Tension in the Aegean – The ‘Imia’ Incident

Extract

In January 1996, tension escalated in the south-eastern Aegean as a result of Turkey's challenge of Greek sovereignty over the Imia rocks. Turkish ‘journalists’ from the newspaper Hurriyet occupied the Greek rocks and took down the Greek flag. This led to a build-up of Turkish and Greek naval forces near the rocks, thus creating a potential source of armed conflict. The tension was reduced after diplomatic intervention by the United States. However, there was a surprising absence of initiative on the part of the European Union in spite of the fact that the external borders of one of its member states had been challenged. The following will be a very brief account of the incident and the arguments of both parties, as evidenced primarily by their respective verbal notes.