CACOPHONY IN THE AEGEAN| CONTEMPORARY TURKISH-GREEK RELATIONS

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, af ter refusing the rescue offer from a ncarby Greek coast-guard, was able LOfloat again and back to ilS harbour towards evening without any further incident and much damage. At the time, nobody could foresee thatthis pure coincidence would start a series of evems that brought two allies to the cdge of war. In fact, for several wccks, there was no crisis and it seemed that only a handful of pcople, who exchanged diplomatic notes, did notice the incidenl. However, everything changed nearly a month later on 20 January 1996, when the incidem was leaked to the Greek periodical Granma, onlyadayarter Mr. Costas Simitis was named to form the new Grcck govemmenl. Immediately, a media campaign was launched by the Greek press with nationalislİc overtones, apparently to test Simitis' fortitude against Turkey.