Imbros


Imbros or İmroz, officially Gökçeada since 29 July 1970, is the largest island of Turkey and the seat of Gökçeada District of Çanakkale Province. It is located in the north-northeastern Aegean Sea, at the entrance of Saros Bay, and is the westernmost point of Turkey. Imbros has an area of and has some wooded areas.
According to the 2016 census, the island-district of Gökçeada has a population of 8,776. The main industries of Imbros are fishing and tourism. Today the island is predominantly inhabited by settlers from the Turkish mainland that mostly arrived there after 1960, but from the indigenous population about 300 Greeks are still remaining, most of them elderly, but including some families with children. The island was primarily inhabited by ethnic Greeks from antiquity until approximately the 1960s, when many emigrated to Greece, western Europe, the United States and Australia, due to a campaign of state-sponsored discrimination. The Greek Imbriot diaspora is thought to number around 15,000.

History

In mythology

According to Greek mythology, the palace of Thetis, mother of Achilles, king of Phthia, was situated between Imbros and Samothrace.
The stables of the winged horses of Poseidon were said to lie between Imbros and Tenedos.
Homer wrote in the Iliad:

In the depths of the sea on the cliff
Between Tenedos and craggy Imbros
There is a cave, wide gaping
Poseidon who made the earth tremble,
stopped the horses there.

Eëtion, a lord of or ruler over the island of Imbros, is also mentioned in the Iliad. He buys Priam's captured son Lycaon and restores him to his father. Homer also writes that Hera and Hypnos leave Lemnos and Imbros making their way to Mount Ida. Homer mentions Imbros in the Iliad on other occasions as well.
Imbros is mentioned in the Homeric Hymn which was dedicated to Apollo.
Apollonius of Rhodes also mentions Imbros in the first book of his work Argonautica.

In antiquity

For ancient Greeks, the islands of Lemnos and Imbros were sacred to Hephaestus, god of metallurgy, and on ancient coins of Imbros an ithyphallic Hephaestus appears.
In classical antiquity, Imbros, like Lemnos, was an Athenian cleruchy, a colony whose settlers retained Athenian citizenship; although since the Imbrians appear on the Athenian tribute lists, there may have been a division with the native population. The original inhabitants of Imbros were Pelasgians, as mentioned by Herodotus in The Histories.
In 511 or 512 BC the island was captured by the Persian general Otanes. But later, Miltiades conquered the island from Persia after the battle of Salamis; the colony was established about 450 BC, during the first Athenian empire, and was retained by Athens for the next six centuries. Thucydides, in his History of the Peloponnesian War describes the colonization of Imbros, and at several places in his narrative mentions the contribution of Imbrians in support of Athens during various military actions. He also recounts the escape of an Athenian squadron to Imbros.
During the Social War the Chians, Rhodians and Byzantians attacked the Imbros and Lemnos, which were allies of Athens.
In the late 2nd century A.D., the island may have become independent under Septimius Severus.
Strabo mentions that Cabeiri are most honored in Imbros and Lemnos.
Stephanus of Byzantium mentions that Imbros was sacred to Cabeiri and Hermes.
Imbrian Mysteries were one of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece. Unfortunately, very little is known about the Imbrian Mysteries.

Byzantine era

Prior to the Fall of Constantinople, several larger islands south of Imbros were under Genoese rule, part of territory historically held in the eastern Mediterranean by the independent Maritime Republic of Genoa a political development within the Western Roman Empire of city-states such as Venice, Pisa and Amalfi. Defended by the Genoese Navy, one of the largest and most powerful in the Mediterranean, Corsica remained a prominent western Mediterranean territory in the Tyrhennian Sea until Napoleon's conquest.
At the beginning of the 13th century, when the Fourth Crusade and its aftermath temporarily disrupted Venice's relations with the Byzantine Empire, Genoa expanded its influence north of Imbros, into the Black Sea and Crimea. An extensive network of mercantile routes and associated ports promoted expansion of Byzantine culture, its goods and services – including scholars and craftsmen schooled in ancient Classical traditions – into Italy, France, Greece, Monaco, Russia, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine. The Renaissance's renewal of European culture was spawned in part by the rapid influx of exiles from Constantinople at the close of the 15th century. Not all the trade exchanges were as beneficial however: in the debit column can be recorded the 1347 European import of the plague via a Genoese trading post in the Black Sea. High mortality precipitated a weakening in the balance of maritime powers, leading to political strife with Venice and outright war. After a failing alliance with France against Barbary pirates, Genoa became a satellite of Spain; a native son and heir to its vital maritime tradition, Christopher Columbus, sponsored the discovery of the Americas in 1492.

Ottoman era

After the fall of Constantinople in 1453 the Byzantine forces in Imbros left the island. In the aftermath following the withdrawal, delegates from the island went to İstanbul for an audience with the Ottoman Emperor Mehmed II to discuss terms allowing them to live harmoniously within the Ottoman Empire.
After the island became Ottoman soil in 1455 it was administered by Ottomans and Venetians at various times. During this period, and particularly during the reign of Kanuni Sultan Süleyman, the island became a foundation within the Ottoman Empire. Relations between the Ottomans and Venetians occasionally led to hostilities – for example, in June 1717 during the Turkish-Venetian War, a tough but ultimately fairly indecisive naval battle between a Venetian fleet, under Flangini, and an Ottoman fleet was fought near Imbros in the Aegean Sea. Nevertheless, the island's residents continued to live in relative peace and prosperity until the 20th century.
In 1912 during the First Balkan War, the Greek Navy invaded the island. The island had an absolute Greek majority population of 8.506 people then. After the signing of the Treaty of Athens in 1913 all of the Aegean islands except Bozcaada and Gökçeada were ceded to Greece.

First World War

In 1915, Imbros played an important role as a staging post for the allied Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, prior to and during the invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula. A field hospital, airfield and administrative and stores buildings were constructed on the island. In particular, many ANZAC soldiers were based at Imbros during the Gallipoli campaign, and the island was used as an air and naval base by ANZAC, British, and French forces against Turkey. On Imbros was the headquarters of General Ian Hamilton.
On 20 January 1918, a naval action took place in the Aegean near the island when an Ottoman squadron engaged a flotilla of the British Royal Navy.
Patrick Shaw-Stewart wrote his famous poem "Achilles in the Trench", one of the best-known war poems of the First World War, while he was at the Imbros. He seemed to enjoy speaking ancient Greek to the inhabitants of Imbros. In one of his letters he wrote: "here I am, living in a Greek village and talking the language of Demosthenes to the inhabitants."

Between Turkey and Greece

Between November 1912 and September 1923, Imbros, together with Tenedos, were under the administration of the Greek navy. Both islands were overwhelmingly ethnically Greek, and in the case of Imbros the population was entirely Greek.
Negotiations to end the Balkan war started in December 1912 in London and the issue of the Aegean islands was one persistent problem. The issue divided the great powers with Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy supporting the Ottoman position for return of all the Aegean islands and Britain and France supporting the Greek position for Greek control of all the Aegean islands. With Italy controlling key islands in the region, major power negotiations deadlocked in London and later in Bucharest. Romania threatened military action with the Greeks against the Ottomans in order to force negotiations in Athens in November 1913. Eventually, Greece and Great Britain pressured the Germans to support an agreement where the Ottomans would retain Tenedos, Kastelorizo and Imbros and the Greeks would control the other Aegean islands. The Greeks accepted the plan while the Ottoman Empire rejected the ceding of the other Aegean islands. This agreement would not hold, but the outbreak of World War I and the Turkish War of Independence put the issue to the side.
During World War I Gallipoli Campaign, the British used the island as a supply base and built a 600-metre-long airstrip for military operations.
In 1920, the Treaty of Sèvres with the defeated Ottoman Empire granted the island to Greece. The Ottoman government, which signed but did not ratify the treaty, was overthrown by the new Turkish nationalist Government of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, based in Ankara. After the Greco-Turkish War ended in Greek defeat in Anatolia, and the fall of Lloyd George and his Middle Eastern policies, the western powers agreed to the Treaty of Lausanne with the new Turkish Republic, in 1923. This treaty made the island part of Turkey; but it guaranteed a special autonomous administrative status for Imbros and Tenedos to accommodate the Greeks, and excluded them from the population exchange that took place between Greece and Turkey, due to their presence there as a majority. Article 14 of the treaty provided specific guarantees safeguarding the rights of minorities in both the nations.
However shortly after the legislation of "Civil Law" on 26 June 1927, the rights accorded to the Greek population of Imbros and Tenedos were revoked, in violation of the Lausanne Treaty. Thus, the island was demoted from an administrative district to a sub-district which resulted that the island was to be stripped of its local tribunals. Moreover, the members of the local council were obliged to have adequate knowledge of the Turkish language, which meant that the vast majority of the islanders were excluded. Furthermore, according to this law, the Turkish government retained the right to dissolve this council and in certain circumstances, to introduce police force and other officials consisted by non-islanders. This law also violated the educational rights of the local community and imposed an educational system similar to that followed by ordinary Turkish schools.
Massive scale persecution against the local Greek element started in 1961, as part of the Eritme Programmi operation that aimed at the elimination of Greek education and the enforcement of economic, psychological pressure and violence. Under these conditions the Turkish government approved the appropriation of the 90% of the cultivated areas of the island and the settlement of additional 6,000 ethnic Turks from mainland Turkey. The Turkish Government, also, closed the Greek schools on the island and classified it as "supervised zone", which meant that expatriates could not visit the island and their homes without special admission. Greeks on the island were also targeted by the construction of an open prison on the island that included inmates convicted of rape and murder, who were then allowed to roam freely on the island and harass locals. Some are said to have committed the same crimes before the prison was closed down in 1992. Farming land was expropriated for the prison. Furthermore, with the 1964 Law on Land Expropriation the farm property of the Greeks on the island was taken away from their owners.
Additional population settlements from Anatolia occurred in 1973, 1984 and 2000. The state provided special credit opportunities and agricultural aid in kind to those who would decide to settle in the island. New settlements were created and existing settlements were renamed with Turkish names. The island itself was officially renamed to Gökçeada in 1970. On the other hand, the indigenous Greek population being deprived of its means of production and facing hostile behaviour from the government and the newly arrived settlers, left its native land. The peak of this exodus was in 1974 during the Cyprus crisis.
In 1991, Turkish authorities ended the military "forbidden zone" status on the island.
In 1992, Panimbrian Committee mentioned, that members of the Greek community are "considered by the authorities to be second class citizens" and that the local Greeks are afraid to express their feelings, to protest against certain actions of the authorities or the Turkish settlers, or even to allow anybody to make use of their names when they give some information referring to the violation of their rights, fearing the consequences which they will have to face from the Turkish authorities. In the same year Human Rights Watch report concluded that the Turkish government has denied the rights of the Greek community on Imbros and Tenedos in violation of the Lausanne Treaty and international human rights laws and agreements.
By 2000, only 400 Greeks remained, while the Turks were around 8000., only 318 Greeks remained on the island, whereas the number of Turks increased to 8,344. A diaspora of approximately 15,000 Imbriots based mostly in Greece maintains strong links to the island.

Geography

Geology

Imbros is mainly of volcanic origin and the highest mountain of the island İlyas Dağ, is an extinct cone-shaped stratovolcano.

Earthquakes

Imbros is situated directly south of the North Anatolian Fault, lying within the Anatolian Plate very close to the boundary between the Aegean Sea and Eurasian Plates. This fault zone, which runs from northeastern Anatolia to the northern Aegean Sea, has been responsible for several deadly earthquakes, including in Istanbul, Izmit and Imbros among others, and is a major threat to the island. On 24 May 2014, Imbros was shaken by a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 MW. 30 people were injured and numerous old houses were damaged, some of them irreparably. A major earthquake is expected to occur along this fault line in the near future. Minor noticeable earthquakes are common.

Climate

The island has a Mediterranean climate with warm and dry summers, and wet and cool winters. Although summer is the driest season, some rainfall does occur in summer. Snow and ground frost are not uncommon in winter.

Town

; Çınarlı : Çınarlı is the only town on Imbros, known as Panaghia Balomeni in Greek; there is a small airport nearby.

Villages

Most of the settlements on Imbros were given Turkish names in 1926.
; Bademli köyü : Older Greek name is Gliky. It is located to the northeast of the island, between Çınarlı town and Kaleköy/Kastro.
; Dereköy : Older Greek name is Schoinoudi. It is located at the center of the west side of island. Due to the emigration of the Greek population, Dereköy is largely empty today. However, many people return on every 15 August for the festival of the Virgin Mary.
; Eşelek / Karaca köyü : It is located at the southeast of the island. It is an agricultural area that produces fruit and vegetables.
; Kaleköy : Older name is Kastro . Located on the north-eastern coast of island, there is an antique castle near the village. Kaleköy also has a small port which was constructed by the French Navy during the occupation of the island in the First World War, and is now used for fishing-boats and yachts.
; Şahinkaya köyü : It is located near Dereköy.
; Şirinköy : It is located in the southwest of island.
; Tepeköy : Older Greek name is Agridia. It is located in the north of the island, and is home to the largest Greek population among all villages. İlyas Dağ, an extinct volcano located to the south of the village, has an elevation of, which makes it the highest point of the island.
; Uğurlu köyü : It is located in the west of the island.
; Yeni Bademli köyü : It is located at the center-northeast of the island, near Bademli. It has many motels and pensions.
; Yenimahalle : Older Greek name is Evlampion. It is located near the town of Çınarlı on the road to Kuzulimanı port.
; Zeytinliköy : Older Greek name is Aghios Theodoros. Demetrios Archontonis, known as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, was born there on 29 February 1940. The village has beautiful historic Greek houses and gets its Turkish name from the surrounding olive groves The village is very popular among tourists during high season.
; Others : Yeni Bademli köyü, Eşelek / Karaca köyü, Şahinkaya köyü, Şirinköy and Uğurlu köyü were established after 1970.

Cittaslow

Gökçeada is one of the eight "cittaslows" of Turkey and is the second in being accepted as one, after Seferihisar.

Places to see

Marine

Water from the Black and Marmara Seas mixing with the warmer saltier water of the Aegean Sea supports a rich marine ecosystem.

Wind

Onshore and offshore wind power may be developed in future.

Issues

Environmental issues include litter.

Economy

Fishing

Swordfish are caught in season.

Agriculture

Goats are raised.

Tourism

Most tourists visit in summer.

Transport

Former scheduled flights from the airport are not currently flying.

Population

Greek population

The island was primarily inhabited by ethnic Greeks from ancient times through to approximately the 1960s. Data dating from 1922 taken under Greek rule and 1927 data taken under Turkish rule showed a strong majority of Greek inhabitants on Imbros, and the Greek Orthodox Church had a strong presence on the island.
Article 14 of the Treaty of Lausanne exempted Imbros and Tenedos from the large-scale population exchange that took place between Greece and Turkey, and required Turkey to accommodate the local Greek majority and their rights:
The islands of Imbros and Tenedos, remaining under Turkish sovereignty, shall enjoy a special administrative organisation composed of local elements and furnishing every guarantee for the native non-Moslem population insofar as concerns local administration and the protection of persons and property. The maintenance of order will be assured therein by a police force recruited from amongst the local population by the local administration above provided for and placed under its orders.

However, the treaty provisions relating to administrative autonomy for Imbros and protections of minority populations was never implemented by the Turkish government." The result was a significant decline in the Greek population of the island.

Human rights

The following grievances apply particularly to Imbros:
All of these events have led to the Greeks emigrating from both islands. According to 1927 Population Census, Imbros population was 6,555 Greeks, and 157 Turks; in contrast at the 2000 Population Census the Greeks had become a minority on the island. In 2000, there were around 400 Greeks, while the Turks were around 8000. Most of the former Greeks of Imbros and Tenedos are in diaspora in Greece, the United States, and Australia.
In September 2015, a Greek school on Imbros was reopened after 51 years of prohibition of Greek education. , there were 14 students, only one of whom was born on the island, the rest from diaspora families that returned to the island. In addition, a member of the Greek community is serving on the Imbros municipal police force as of 2015.
By 2019, the Greek population of the island had increased to 400, mainly due to increasing numbers of returnees from the diaspora. There are now 3 Greek schools with 53 students.

Culture

A Turkish documentary of 2013, Rüzgarlar, by Selim Evci, is focused on the discriminatory government policies of the 1960s against the Greek population.
Another Turkish film, My Grandfather's People, is based on the population exchange between Turkey and Greece in 1923. Among other places, some scenes were filmed in Imbros.

Notable people from Imbros