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Imbros

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Imbros, officially known as Gökçeada (older name in Turkish: İmroz; Greek: Ίμβρος – Imvros), is the largest island of Turkey, part of Çanakkale Province. It is located at the entrance of Saros Bay in the nortern Aegean Sea, also the westernmost point of Turkey (İncirburnu/Avlaka peninsula). With an area of 279 square km (108 square miles), Imbros contains some wooded areas.<ref name="concise">Gökçeada", from Britannica Concise Encyclopedia</ref>

According to the 2000 Census, the island of Imbros had a total population of 8,875.<ref name="DIE">Turkish Istatistic Institute-Population 2000 by provinces&districts (*.xls table)</ref> The same census also reported 7,254 people in Gökçeada town, and 1,621 in the remaining villages.<ref name="DIE"/> The main industries of Imbros are fishing and tourism. The population is predominately Turkish but there are still about 300 Greeks on Imbros. The island is noted for the wineyards and wine produced.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] In mythology

According to the 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 lay between Imbros and Tenedos.

Homer wrote:
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 temble,
stopped the horses there.

[edit] In antiquity

In classical antiquity, Imbros, like Lemnos, was an Athenian cleruchy, a colony whose settlers retained Athenians 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. 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 (with brief exceptions) for the next six centuries. It may have become independent under Septimius Severus.

[edit] Ottoman era

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[edit] 1900 onwards

[edit] Between Turkey and Greece

Before and shortly after the First World War the population of Imbros was ethnic Greek, with Greeks making up approximately 97.5 percent of the islands population in 1927.

Because of their strategic position near the Dardanelles, the western powers, particularly Britain, insisted at the end of the Balkan Wars in 1913 that the island should be retained by the Ottoman Empire when the other Aegean islands were ceded to Greece.

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 he 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 on 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.<ref>See link to the text of the Treaty, below</ref>

However shortly after the legislation of “Civil Law” on 17 February 1926 (Medeni Kanun), the rights accorded to minorities in Turkey were revoked, in violation of the Lausanne Treaty. The teaching in the Greek language in schools was forbidden in 1927 by law 1151 on the “Unification of Education” (Tevhid-i Tedrisat Kanunu). However, in the town and in the five villages there were schools which were financed by Greece and constructed by the local inhabitants[citation needed], and Greek teachers who had Greek nationality worked in these schools together with Turkish Teachers until 1965.[citation needed]

[edit] The Greek population

The island was primarily inhabited by ethnic Greeks from ancient times through to approximately the middle of the twentieth century. 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 (1923) 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. Specifically:

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 in so far 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.

Subsequently, the islands were to be largely autonomous and self-governing, with their own police force. Turkish policy consistently undermined both the spirit and letter of this commitment: The islands of Imbros and Tenedos were each given an official Turkish name (Gökçeada and Bozcaada respectively), schools were required to teach exclusively in Turkish, and the local Greek population was marginalized in multiple ways.

Large numbers of mainland Turks were settled on the island, and Greek property was expropriated by the Turkish government, which asserted security concerns. The adequacy of the compensation is disputed. Greeks had owned 95 percent of Imbros' agricultural land prior to these expropriations, today they own almost none. Guarantees that were made to all the Greek inhabitants of Turkey in the Treaty of Lausanne were ignored, and the Turkish government implemented a policy of intimidation.

While the Cyprus conflict between Greece and Turkey escalated in the 1960's, the situation of the Greeks of the island continually deteriorated. Turkey opened an open prison for dangerous criminals on the island, resulting in grievious harm both to the Greek islanders' property and, in some cases, to the Greek islanders themselves.

All of these events have led to the Greeks emigrating from both islands. By 1970 the Greeks were a minority at 40% of the population, and there remains only a very small Greek community on Imbros today, comprising several hundred mostly elderly people. Most of the former Greeks of Imbros and Tenedos are in diaspora in Greece, the United States, and Australia.

[edit] Geography

Çınarlı is the main town on Imbros, formerly known as Panaghia Balomeni (Παναγία Μπαλωμένη) in Greek and still called that by the Greeks. Most of the settlements on Imbros were given Turkish names in 1926. Çınarlı is in the middle of the island; there is a small airport under construction nearby.

Bademli köyü
Older Greek name is Gliky (Γλυκύ). It is located to the northeast of the island, between Çınarlı town and Kaleköy/Kastro.

Dereköy
Older Greek name is Shinudy (Σχοινούδι). It is located at the center of the west side of island. Due to the emigration of the Greek population, (largely to New Zealand and the USA; some to Greece and Istanbul before the 1970s), Dereköy is empty today. However, many people return on every August 15th for the festival of the Virgin Mary.

Eşelek / Karaca köyü
It is located at the Southeast of island. It is an agricultural area that produces fruits and vegetables.

Kaleköy
Older name is Kastro (Κάστρο) (Italian and Greek for castle). Located on the north-eastern coast of island, there is an antique castle near the vilage. Kaleköy also has a small port which was constructed by the French Navy during the occupation 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 to the southwest of island.

Tepeköy
Older Greek name is Agridia (Αγριδιά). It is located at the north of the island, and is home to the largest Greek population on the island. Barba Yorgo' is well known inhabitant of island.[citation needed] An extinct volcano take place at the south of village which is the highest point of island.

Uğurlu köyü
It is located on the west of island.

Yeni Bademli köyü
It is located at the center-northeast of island, near Bademli. It has many motels and pensions.

Yenimahalle
Older Greek name is Evlampio (Ευλάμπιο). It is located near Çınarlı Town on the road to Kuzulimanı port.

Zeytinli köyü
Older Greek name is Aghios Theodoros (Άγιος Θεόδωρος). Demetrios Archontonis, known as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, was born there on February 29, 1940. It has a famous café where Madam (elderly Greek lady) serves her special Turkish/Greek style coffee which is prepared in a hand mortar.[citation needed]

Yeni Bademli köyü, Eşelek / Karaca köyü, Şahinkaya köyü, Şirinköy and Uğurlu köyü are established after 1970.

[edit] Places to see

  • Aydıncık/Kefaloz (Kefalos) beach: Best location for windsurfing
  • Kapıkaya (Stenos) beach:
  • Kaşkaval peninsula / (Kaskaval): Scuba diving usual
  • Kuzulimanı (Haghios Kyrikas): Ferryboat port. - 24-hour ferries to Gelibolu-Kabatepe port and Çanakkale port.
  • Mavikoy/Bluebay: The first national underwater park in Turkey. Scuba diving alloved for recreational purposes.
  • Marmaros beach: Also has a small waterfall.
  • Pınarbaşı (Spilya) beach: Longest (and most sandy) beach on the island.

[edit] Population

[edit] Population change in Imbros

██ Turkish people ██ Greek people

Town & Villages19271970197519801985199019972000
Çınarlı (Panaghia Balomeni) --3578 6153806342425121676770721405532650329
Bademli (Gliky) --661441574011334292215151513
Dereköy (Shinudy) --73672391378319214380106996882406842
Eşelek--------------152-
Fatih--------396245428432413521418025
Kaleköy (Kastro) --383624--12894-105-90-89-
Şahinkaya----------168-107-86-
Şirinköy--------------189-
Tepeköy (Agridia) --3504427321931110752239242
Uğurlu--------460-490-466-401-
Yenibademli--------416-660-628-581-
Yenimahalle (Evlampio) --182143162121231813595997027224025236227
Zeytinli (Aghios Theodoros) --305071536936235721622513012821276
TOTAL15765553970262144031540487910686524586762632183302488640254

Ref: Gökçeada Municipality official page

Ref: Changes in the demographic characteristics of Gökçeada

[edit] People

  • Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
  • Erol Saygı; Turkish academian. (Saygı, E., (1985). Gökçeada :Imbros. Motif Basım LTD. STİ., Istanbul)
  • Ali Dağlı; The only shipowner who gave service to transport people and goods from mainland Turkey to Imbros, before the construction of Kuzulimanı Port.
  • Namık ?; Cinematographer, who run for many years, between 1960s-1980s, a small cinema saloon, with the help of his Greek wife.
  • Stavros Stavropulos ; Mayor, 1965-1970.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

<references />

[edit] References

[edit] External links


Image:Canakkale Turkey Provinces locator.gif Districts of Çanakkale Image:Flag of Turkey.svg

Çanakkale | Ayvacık | Bayramiç | Biga | Bozcaada | Çan | Eceabat | Ezine | Gelibolu | Gökçeada | Lapseki | Yenice |

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