Cacophony in the Aegean; Contemporary Turkish-Greek Relations

01 Şubat 1997

THE TURKISH YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, XXVII, 1997

Mustafa AYDIN 

On 25 December 1995, a Turkish coaster named Figen Akat run aground on one of the hitherto unnoticed rocks in the Aegean, 3.8 nautical miles off the Turkish coasL. Later that day, the carrier, after refusing the rescue offer from a ncarby Greek coast-guard, was able to float again and back to its harbour towards evening without any further incident and much damage. At the time, nobody could foresee that this pure coincidence would start a series of evems that brought two allies to the edge of war.

Keywords: Turkish Foreign Policy, Greek Foreign Policy, Turkey-EU Relations, Turkey and Greece, The Aegean Sea

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