Kastelorizo – Mediterranean Flashpoint?

February 8, 2012 | Filed under: Geopolitics,Opinion & Analysis

Remember the name Kastelorizo; you heard it here first.

It is the far-flung, easternmost island of Greece, 80 miles from Rhodes, 170 miles west of Cyprus, but just 1 mile off the coast of Turkey. Kastelorizo (in Greek, Καστελόριζο; or officially Megisti, Μεγίστη) is tiny, comprising just 5 square miles, plus some yet smaller, uninhabited islands. Its 430 inhabitants are way down from 10,000 in the late nineteenth century. The Lonely Planet travel guide has picked it as one of the four best Greek islands (out of thousands) for diving and snorkeling. There’s no public transportation from nearby Anatolia, only from distant Rhodes by airplane or ferry.

Kastelorizo off the Anatolian coast and between Rhodes and Cyprus.

That Athens controls this wisp of land implies it could (but does not yet) claim an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Mediterranean Sea that reduces the Turkish EEZ to a fraction of what it would be were the island under Ankara’s control, as maps reproduced from the Cypriot newspaper I Simerini illustrate show. The top map shows the Greece claiming its full 200-nautical mile EEZ and controlling Kastelorizo EEZ (indicated by the red arrow); the bottom one shows the Greek EEZ minus Kastelorizo (indicated by the white arrow).

Were Athens to claim its full EEZ, Kastelorizo’s presence would make its EEZ contiguous with the EEZ of Cyprus, a factor with great import now, at a moment of massive off-shore gas and oil discoveries. Kastelorizo with an EEZ benefits the emerging Greece-Cyprus-Israel alliance by making it possible to transport either Cypriot and Israeli natural gas (via pipeline) or electricity (via cable) to Western Europe without Turkish permission. This has taken on special urgency since Nov. 4, when Turkey’s minister for energy, Taner Yıldız, announced that his government would not permit Israeli natural gas to transit Turkish territory; Ankara will likely also ban Cypriot exports.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling AKP party colleagues accept Greek control of Kastelorizo and its six nautical miles of territorial waters, but not more and certainly not its full EEZ rights. Indeed, in their eyes, Greek assertion of an EEZ constitutes a casus belli. By neutering Kastelorizo, Ankara can lay claim to large economic area in the Mediterranean and block cooperation among its adversaries. This is why the island could become a flashpoint.

Top: Greece's EEZ with Kastelorizo. Bottom: Greece's EEZ without Kastelorizo.

Several developments point to AKP intimidation of Greece concerning Kastelorizo. First, in September, it authorized a Norwegian ship, the Bergen Surveyor, accompanied by other sea craft, to begin prospecting for gas and oil south of Kastelorizo, including some of the island’s continental shelf. Second, Turkish warships have trained with live ammunition between Rhodes and Kastelorizo. Finally, Turkish military aircraft four times in 2011 overflew Kastelorizo without permission, sometimes very low with reconnaissance aircraft.

This bellicosity fits a larger pattern. The AKP government, especially since it has took full control of the armed forces in late July, has shown increasing hostility toward Cyprus, Israel, Syria, and Iraq. In addition, Ankara has long denied Cyprus its EEZ, so doing the same vis-à-vis Kastelorizo builds on an established policy. Indeed, the Turks’ brutal, napalm-assisted 1974 conquest of the northern 36 percent of Cyprus set a precedent for seizing nearby island territory. Grabbing Kastelorizo would require about as much time as reading this article.

George Papandreou, then prime minister of Greece, visited Kastelorizo in April 2010.

So far, responses to heightened Turkish aggressiveness in the Mediterranean have focused on deterring Turkish feints toward gas and oil reserves in the Cypriot EEZ, with navies and statements from the United States and Russia backing the Republic of Cyprus’ right to exploit its economic resources. Cypriot president Demetris Christofias warned that if Ankara persists with its gunboat diplomacy, “there will be consequences which, for sure, will not be good.” Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told the Greeks that “If anyone tries to challenge these drillings, we will meet those challenges” and his government enhanced security not only for its own maritime fields but also for drilling areas in Cypriot waters. On at least one occasion, Israeli warplanes have confronted Turkish ships.

Such clear signals of resolve are welcome. As the European Union pushes Greece to drill for hydrocarbons to find new sources of income, it should also support Athens declaring its EEZ, reject AKP troublemaking vis-à-vis Kastelorizo, and clearly indicate the dire results for Turkey of any trouble-making toward an island now happily renowned for its diving and snorkeling.

Source: danielpipes.org

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  • John

    Daniel Pipes is correct. The EU should assist Greece for its own benefit.

    I have to note that I am a surprised that a renowned analyst like Daniel Pipes is interested in this issue which is rather ‘neglected’ or ‘down-played’ by the rest of the well known analysts.

    He also has good insight, despite the fact that little relative information is available to the rest of the world.

    Perhaps he is a regular visitor of defencegreece.com and reads the good analyses posted here :)

  • Solinariforever

    I am not sure this will be a flashpoint. All depends on the Americans and how the popular news casters in the US would handle the news of a Turkish Megisti grab.
    If the Americans have promised Turkey the island, then they will direct the news in a way that would look like the fight is all about a useless rock… no big deal! As for a Greek response, you can forget it.
    Remember the Cyprus grab, as far as everyone was concerned the Greeks were blamed for Turkey’s aggression, never mind the 200,000 people displacement and the Greek junta’s Cyprus coup attempt having been caused by the US support of the Greek junta not the peopleof Cyprus.

  • FredNordblo

    “The top map shows the Greece claiming its full 200-nautical mile EEZ and controlling Kastelorizo EEZ (indicated by the red arrow); the bottom one shows the Greek EEZ minus Kastelorizo (indicated by the white arrow).”

    The statement about the top map is correct. The statement about the bottom map is not. It should state that this is the EEZ Turkey would like to claim which has no basis in international law. Actually, the map is titled (in Greek) “what Turkey claims”. It is not Greece’s EEZ minus Kastelorizo. Notice how the EEZ afforded to Karpathos and Rhodes is only up to their 6-mile (or is it 12?) maritime limit. I’m not even sure what is going on to the west of Cyprus but these lines do not follow the median line principle for adjacent countries with overlapping EEZs. Even if we were to assume the EEZs of the three counties without Kastelorizo, Turkey would get a triangular wedge of an EEZ that touches Egypt’s EEZ (and separates the Greek and Cypriot EEZ), but its area is maybe a quarter of what they are claiming. Once again, Turkey applies international law arbitrarily and only when it benefits itself. As we all know, they do apply the Law of the Sea EEZ principles correctly in the Black Sea, even though they are not a signatory to the convention, but they turn a blind eye when it comes to the Aegean and the Med.

  • John

    It seems that US and Israel are currently in favor of Greeks. At least as far as Cyprus is concerned this is true. However there might be a different strategy from the US if the Merkozi try to put their hold in Greek gas and oil with the excuse of the bailout.

    You see almost every hydrocarbon coming out from the ground in the world is a US affair one way or another (this is how they want to control the world, through energy!!!). And they will not allow France or Germany to have the upper hand in the Greek reserves. No way! I hope this will not be the case, because otherwise the US might use Turkey to force the EU to give them the bigger share on our deposits.

    Apart from the questions there are a couple of certainties:

    1. Greece will not benefit from its hydrocarbons because of the economic crisis (everything will be used to pay off debts). This make me think why the hell Papandreou who was supposedly representing the interests of Greeks decided to announce/reveal a huge debt! I really cannot explain it. I mean all countries more or less make false statistics. Why reveal the truth (?) and put your people in desperation for the next 2 decades at least? There is no political gain since him personally and his party are now considered finished. So why the hell did he do that? I begin to accept a conspiracy theory. That he is a traitor and now that the deep sea exploration technology is available and that the world is more hungry for depleting hydrocarbons the time has eventually come for the huge Greek reserves (the reserves that Papandreou himself was officially stating that they do not exist!!!). But beware! Only superpowers and big oil companies should earn the profits!!! Greece should remain a small country with no economic or geopolitic significance and no saying at all! And the way to achieve that is to create a huge economic crisis in Greece!

    2. Turkey which has an emerging economy and army will definitely react strongly and decisively shortly after Erdogan finishes its internal conflict with the Army. Like Turks did in the Ottoman era when after a Sultan died his male children where killing each other so that a single (highlander) remained. And then the new ruler attacked Greeks. Like the story after the death of Bayazit I. We know history, we know that a storm is coming. Let’s be prepared for that!

  • Phoevos

    Nonsense.

    The EEZ waters of Greece are well known and fully documented not only by Greece but others as well.

    BTW, the article is written on an entirely wrong basis. It’s not Kastelorizo itself that is the bedrock of the Greek EEZ. There is an entire complex of more than 13-14 islands of which Kastelorizo is part of. By itself, Kasterolizo is meaningless and hardly does the job. It’s the entire complex of islands around Kastelorizo that makes all the difference by connecting the Cypriot and Greek EEZs as the map shows .

    One of these little islands of the Megisti complex (and not Kastelorizo) has an EEZ of roughly 23,000 km2 which bigger than the land mass of Peloponnese. Focusing on Kastelorizo is the wrong approach which basically shows that the journalist is not up to speed regarding the concepts involved.His reference to Kastelorizo is a vague georgraphical reference, yet the meat of Kastelorizo is elsewhere.

    http://www.seaaroundus.org/eez/300.aspx

    P.S. There are fully detailed maps available.

  • Sikoseto

    Greece’s EEZ is MASSIVE we should exploit it, it is our right, the Turks can get f****d

    • O1acimasiz

      Yes and now wake up,dreaming is good but not to much.
      Lets see who gets F****d.

  • http://twitter.com/Tweets4Onur Onur O.

    Are you guys mad?

    Don’t you see that you are presenting Turkey as some kind of landlocked country on your mythical EEZ maps, despite our ~8000km of coastline to the Aegean and Mediterranean?

    Do you honestly believe that this can be the case and these small rocky islets, visible by naked eye from Turkey`s mainland coasts would supposedly give you whole Mediterranean sea? Yes, i know Greece founded on top of myths and the citizens of modern Greece lives on myths but this is too much!!!

    P.S: The most absurd sentence in the article was “Turkish military aircraft four times in 2011 overflew Kastelorizo without permission”!!! LOL, this Italian named islet is only 1300 meters away from our coasts. Then by this logic, i can violate the so-called Greek airspace by attaching myself wings and jump from a hill from Turkish mainland, across the islet.

    Actually, i am quite sure that the western powers purposely awarded these small islets to Greece by throwing out Italian army from there, despite the fact that these islets are only meters away from Turkey but 1000s of miles away from Greece. They did this by hoping that this would cause more trouble and even more conflicts between Turkey and Greece and they achieved their goal. Now go buy some more French, German ships, fighter jets and bombs with your last remaining euros in your piss poor wallets. Go ahead, they are waiting from you to buy some more 2nd hand equipment from Franco-German war industry!!!

    • Phoevos

      Onur:

      What the heck are you talking about?

      The EEZ does not mean that others don’t have the right of passage. It only means you can’t exploit the EEZ of another country. What landlocked nonsense are you talking about?

    • Sikoseto

      The truth hurts aye Turk?

    • FredNordblo

      As if geographical distance gives any relevance to this argument, let alone legality to the claim. By your (flawed) logic, I would posit that because Kastelorizo (or its official Greek name of Megisti, if you like) is only 1,300 meters from Turkey, then Greece should be able to claim a 200 km radius on the mainland around Kas. Or how about “by attaching myself wings and jump [sic] from a hill” from the Greek side of the Evros River I make claim to all of Eastern Thrace. I said it before and I’ll say it again, responding to your useless rants is a waste of time.

    • Tyroneez

      Onur
      Your such an idiot …
      The islands were granted to greece … Because the people who have lived there since 3000 years … Wanted it …
      After all they are Greeks …and not Turks ???
      Of course im sure YOU THINK a little massacre and ethnic cleansing , could have taken care of that …
      You might as well be supporting those war criminals Hitler , milosovic , karadsic , and mladic ..
      Or does that title only apply if the victims are Moslems and not Christians and Jews
      I say it once again … Your an idiot …
      And why do i say that ..
      Because the Turkish state and establishment is busy trying to deny the fact that it deliberately ordered and organised genocide …
      And here you are single handedly destroying their case … By advocating genocide and ethnic cleansing all over again …
      A country of seventy million … Against a tiny island of 450 people …
      Is this the bravery of the Turkish military ?????
      MUSHALLA

    • Tyroneez

      Onur
      Even the mightiest power on earth the USA … Would not today try and claim any offshore islands , as American territory ??
      Otherwise by your twisted logic the EEZ of the Bahamas , Bermuda , cuba and half the Caribbean should belong to the USA …
      Or the oilfields of trinidad and Tobago should belong to Venezuela …
      Those days are long gone you / retrograde miscreant

  • RebelJim

    Greece hasn’t got 2 cents to rub together, instead of having a web to help young people with jobs; they are here playing war with Giant Turkey just like a bunch of kids.
    Go and get e life.

    • Sikoseto

      I hear your father calling you from his bedroom, go attend to him

    • Tyroneez

      @ rebel jim
      Yes , wouldn’t you just love that …
      So what are you afraid of then … If turkey is so mighty ???

      If you think that Greece will ever hand over it’s people and islands to genocide and ethnic cleansing …without a fight
      To your so called peacekeeping military …
      Than you need to think again / my friend

      This is the little Greece that said no to Hitler and Mussolini …
      And at a time when mighty France and all of Europe had already fallen …to the Nazi blitzkrieg … And nobody stood i’n their way …the Germans armies massed on the Bulgarian border and the Italians on the Albanian …
      The nazis wanted to pass through to take turkey and on to baku But Greece said OXI … Because it was the honourable thing to do … Saying we are not hungary … We are not Bulgaria … We are not Romania…. You cannot pass
      …incidentally saving turkey .. By it’s sacrifice ..of 1 million greek dead …
      And what did turkey do … They sat out the war … Helping hitler with shipments of chromium for his war machine …i’n his fight with Russia …
      Well Bravo turkey …
      But you have no shame … Coming now with your pathetic demands for surrender of our islands and half the Aegean …
      you may have temporarily and illegally grabbed half of Cyprus with the conniving of your British and American fellow traitors ..

      But we laugh at your military and the imperialist mentality of your state …
      Surely you must realise that a military conquest … In this day and age , will never be allowed to pass …
      Hence the attempts at bullying Greece into surrender …
      How ridiculous is that …
      Just a glance at the history books will tell you that that will never happen … No matter how difficult the economic situation i’n Greece …
      Why can’t you be peace loving neighbours and come and join us i’n the EU as partners i’n the region …
      Just like Italy has forgotten about empire building … Over the Greek homelands …
      You have managed to grab the biggest and most beautiful land mass i’n Europe … The biggest population i’n Europe … And soon the biggest economy …
      Such a bright future for your people … You don’t need greece’s EEZ or Gas and Oil deposits …
      It doesn’t belong to you

    • Paleo

      Im sure that’s what the generals said to the US President before going to war with Vietnam….We all know now how a Superpower can be humbled, don’t we Jimbo?

  • http://twitter.com/Tweets4Onur Onur O.

    I just saw this interview with the mayor of Kasteliroizo. It`s quite interesting and a proof that the burden left on your shoulder by the western powers is much more than you can handle.

    He says that the people of the island doesn’t wanna see any Greek politician step in their island. He says that they left the island alone and there is no sign of a state for years. They wanna rebel against the EU colony of Greece, go back to drachma and declare their independence !!! Poor people buying their food and daily needs from Turkey to be able to continue their lives.

    http://aftodioikisi.gr/proto_thema/17650

    The island`s population is about ~300, excluding the soldiers from Athens and i really wonder what are these soldiers are doing there and for what purpose?!?!! I would say that we better refuse selling anything to them and let them buy their food from Athens but their situation looks really bad, so i wont be that cruel. Actually, we better give them one way ticket to Australia and an immigration form to end their misery.

    So, while you guys are keep on dreaming and living in your fantasies, this is the real situation.

    • Phoevos

      Onur:

      We all know that everything in Turkey is cheap.

      and don’t worry about Megisti. Everything is peachy here and we are taking our sweet time:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df-eLzao63I

      So?

    • Canavar

      Kasteliroizo may only be 1,300 m of the Turkish coast physically, but it is a light year away culturally. The culture of these is rooted in that of ancient Greece. Your culture descends from that of Attila the Hun. One caveat, the Greek’s true ancestors were the ancient Greeks. Only ~ 10%-20% of your genes are from Central Asian, according to geneticists (GOOGLE) despite the expanded chests and constant boasting of Turkish nationalists. But it doesn’t matter. Your Turkified Anatolian ancestors became as Turkish in attitudes, values and beliefs as Alp Arslan. So while the modern Greeks are the cultural descendents of Pericles, Socrates, and Archimedes, you are the cultural descendents of Attilla the Hun, Genghis Khan, and Tamerlane. Congratulations!
      If I were a citizen of Kasteliroizo, I’d want to stay Greek.

      • http://twitter.com/Tweets4Onur Onur O.

        Yes yes, Albanian speaking Arvanites, Romanian speaking Vlachs, Turkish speaking Karamanlides/Cappadocians, slavic speaking Macedonians etc. are all the descendants of Socrates, even the Turks of Thrace are the descendants of Pericles !!!

        Close your eyes and keep living in your fantasies while 100.000+ people in Athens burning down the city to save their country from being a German colony but don’t look outside because you wont like what you see. Keep on dreaming about Pericles, Homeros…

        • Sikoseto

          LOL Why are you even commenting here you clown, keep your eye on those Kurds I hear the love the taste of Turkish blood

        • Tyroneez

          Onur
          How you like to twist everything …
          All the peoples you mention above … Having come to live i’n the Hellenic heartlands … Have i’n the fullness of time voluntarily become hellenised …
          And before you say they were forced by the greek state ….this is a phenomenon which occurred even i’n roman and ottoman times ….
          Even the vlachs and christian albanians , i’n todays Albania , Bulgaria , and vardaria … Still choose to Self-identify as Greek …despite the modern Greek state never having any control of these areas …
          Contrast that with the Bosnian and Albanian or pomak Moslems … Who refuse to be counted as turks … Despite hundreds of years of Turkish attempts to claim them as such …
          As for the modern Turkish states RECORD on the treatment of it’s minorities …. Wether they be Christian or Moslem … Is even worse than the corrupt and shambolic ottoman states record …
          And that’s saying something , believe me …
          And yes the Moslems of Thrace both east and west are genetically either Slav or Greek …
          You only need to look how blond and fair these people are … To know that they are as far removed from any Turkish descent as is humanly possible …
          Just look at a kazak or kirkiz Turk … And compare , but you probably dont even Understand that !!!
          Even your beloved mustafa Kemal attaturk … Was a blonde blue eyed Albanian from north eastern Greece …
          And what did he do ???
          He spent his life trying to turn you all into Moslem Greeks …
          Changing your alphabet , dress , and trying to modernise your mentality and culture …
          Into a modern secular (ancient Greek ) inspired model …
          Adopted by the whole world today …
          He found the place as backward and medieval as afganistan , and tried to turn it into europe …
          But it looks like any success was only superficially , judging by your comments on here …
          Alas it seems that the turkish state is slipping backwards all the time …
          Notice i did not say the Turkish or kurdish people … Who are just trapped by the same (unchanged deep state syndrome) that is causing so much disruption and destabilising the whole region …

          • Canavar

            Very well said Tyroneez. Millions of people over a vast expanse of time choose to be Hellenized , and thus adopt as their own the Greco-Roman heritage. There is a good reason. Who wouldn’t choose Western civilization, whose intellectual foundations were laid by ancient Greece, over Hunnic barbarism.
            As for Greece’s present troubles, how can you negate a great civilization over 2,500 years old, because in an interval of time so slim that it won’t be remembered 100 years from now ,Greece is having a bad time.

            I truly respect Greece, its people, and its history.

          • Tyroneez

            @canavar
            Thanks for your comments above
            You are quite right the ancient Greek invention of a secular society , with no state religion , were an individual could believe , and say whatever he wished …
            Is the cornerstone of our modern western society of today …
            It has proved to be the best method of self organisation known to human kind …
            Along with the invention of all the other disciplines such as Phylosophy , biology , history , geometry etc etc etc
            Without which our modern existence would be unrecognisable ..
            The complete refusal of the Turkish State to recognise that the Greeks have ever contributed anything worthwhile to humanity is quite bizarre …
            The hatred of anything Greek i’n Turkey verges on the pathological
            It can only be the fear of the usurper … Knowing that the land he has stolen , does not truly belong to him

    • Tyroneez

      Onur
      The mayors outburst is i’n protest at the governments agreeing to more austerity measures … Demanded by the eurozone troika In exchange for the new loans … Which are simply replacing the maturing loans that Greece has previously taken from the markets …
      Undoubtedly the austerity measures are by any standards unduly harsh … And most Greek people are justly opposed to them …Including the Mayor of kasteloriso …
      That i’n no way means that he is i’n favour of a Turkish take over …
      Or i’n favour of your outrageous proposal of a oneway ticket to Australia …
      Your reprehensible comment is TYPICAL of Turkish attitudes and MENTALITY …. Of occupation genocide and ethnic cleansing …of peoples from their homelands …
      But when you are accused of it … YOU ALWAYS TRY AND DENY IT ??

      Shame on you ..These people and islands have Been Greek since time began … Before even the Turks existed i’n far off central Asia …
      You are not satisfied with the usurpation of the ENORMOUS 400,000 sq klm of ANATOLIA …
      You have to have every tiny little Greek rock as well …
      Your greed knows no bounds

  • Canavar

    Onur,

    I told you that the Turks are a mediocre people who have contributed nothing to civilization. You never replied. What a mystery!

    You blustered France, but how many Renoir’s, Marie Curies, and Voltaire’s have you produced since the Battle of Manzikurt.

    You blustered Israel, but the Jewish contributions in so many fields but especially in science, put you to shame. How many Albert Einsteins, Jonas Salks, or John von Neumanns have you produced (von Neumann invented game theory, and developed the theoretical foundation for digital computing, among many other things). Are you jealous of the Jews. If not you should be.

    Even in you specialty war you are just blow hards. Turkiye-Kibris savas geliyorse, Turkler dogan. Fakat Turkiye-Fransa savas cok mumkumse, Turkler pilic.

    One thing you are good at is hating. You have hated the Greeks, Armenians, and Kurds from time immemorial. You have acted on these hates with the Armenian genocide, with the daily massacre of Kurds in Eastern Turkey and even in Iraq. But less well known in the US is your destruction of Greek Anatolian civilization in the last century, with the reduction of the Greek population from well over a million or even two to a few tens of thousands. The “population exchange” of 1926 involved expelling vast numbers of Greeks, some of whose ancestors settled Anatolia well before the time of Christ. And yet Erdogan is in a frenzy about the “theft” of Palestine by the Jews. What a hypocrite.

    The Israelis, and more and more the Jews in general, are the newest on your hate list. But you won’t get anywhere with this newest hate because of the existence and power of Israel. That’s the job it was created for and it does it very well.

    If you read the English editions of the Israeli newspapers, and especially the talk backs from
    rank and file Israelis, you will see that few hate you but almost none respect you.

    This is the way I feel. I don’t hate Turkey. But I totally disrespect it.

  • Makos

    Kastelorizo is an asset for Greece and a heaven blessed place from many aspects . One of them is its beauty….
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKjWfkCmEmk&feature=share

    • canavar

      Makos it is truly breathtaking. Thanks for sending the URL. But why didn’t I see any fish? The Grotto must be full of them but they were out of sight. Why?
      Incidentally I’ve never been to Greece except for a three hour stop in the Athens airport when I was on my way to Turkey. So I saw your airport which looks like most airports. I have heard that Cyprus is really a jewel. Is that true?
      Anyway sooner or later I’m going to go to Greece and perhaps Cyprus. I hope it is sooner rather than later.

      • Makos

        I have been in Kastelorizo for a couple of times where I discovered this cave. Later I found this video and I took the chance to share it.

        The experience in this cave is really more fascinating that what can be captured in any video. Diving, or snorkeling there and hearing these weird noises, while being seduced by the sunlight that deeps into the electric blue water is beyond any description.

        Regarding the fish, I really do not know the answer. As I remember I spotted some small fish, but the cave had little algae. I guess this is explained by the fact that the sunlight is not strong enough there, so this might also explain the absence of fish that feed on algae and subsequently the absence of their ‘predators’. Another explanation might be that the small opening does not allow the water inside the cave to be replaced fast enough, so that it will be finally deprived by most of its oxygen that sustain fish. As KASOMOULIS said this is not uncommon in caves. Another such cave I visited last year was off Kythira island (another amazing place with a variety of breathtaking colors http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuSt7OhHHc0&feature=related) and it was the same case.

        By the way such small inhabitable islands, far away from Turkey, just off a couple of miles by other populated Greek islands are disputed by Turkey on the crazy reasoning that they were not explicitly stated in transfer of sovereignty agreements and that Turkey being the successor state of Ottoman Empire has the right to own them . Usually those agreements were stating ‘all surrounding’ rocky islands and were accompanied by maps with explicit borders that were depicting these islets. Nevertheless about a couple of decades ago Turkey suddenly woke up, realized it was more powerful and that it needed Lebensraum so it started disputing the sovereignty of all these islets and leading to the Imia crisis and the theory of ‘grey zones’).

        I would also like to say that Kastelorizo is such a beautiful island, intact by the tourist industry (I guess its location and difficult access from mainland Greece explains that). However if you get there you can find simple, nice and hospitable people that we will treat you warmly as a friend. Great place, great people, and great fresh fish!

        • Makos

          Another interesting fact about this island is how good relations its inhabitants have with their Turkish neighbors leaving on the other side. Lately a Greek guy from Kastelorizo married a Turkish girl from Kas. Too bad to see this living example of good and peaceful neighborhood being distracted by the Turkish government that decided to send its aircraft on an overflight, and its naval vessels there just to remind that it disputes the sovereignty of the island and of course its EEZ.

          • canavar

            I don’t think the fish theory is right at all. Why should fish need sunlight when they swim under water. Someone suggested that the Grotto was over fished. If so, its another example of man destroying nature.

          • Makos

            It’s the food of chain! Sunlight is needed by algae to grow, fish need to eat algae to sustain themselves. This theory might be wrong alright, but it’s a valid guess. Regarding the fishing activity I never heard about it.

          • canavar

            Makos I don’t know anything about ecology so I’ll take your word for it.
            But I do know snorkeling would be even better if the grotto was loaded with beautifully colored fish. I’ve done some snorkeling in the Carribean and the colored fish make the snorkeling a WOW experience.
            Have you been to Cyprus? If so is it as beautiful as I was told it was? If anyone posting here knows, please inform me.

    • KASOMOULIS

      Makos
      I don’t know where u find the clips, second time I must thank you for this breathtaking show.
      I am NOT surprised there are no fish being seeing – we experience the same thing in Zakinthos when snorkeling there – no coral, overfished waters.