Zurafa (Oil dryer) and national sovereignty
Zurafa (Oil dryer) and national sovereignty
November 2, 2023 IHA-Hellas Theofanis Malkidis
The map of Zurafa is by Francesco Piacenza (1688)
- National sovereignty and the Aegean
The discussion that has started in Greece after the statements of the head of the neighboring state about Zourafa and by extension about the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), brought to the fore issues of great national and international interest. At the same time, components related to the above and especially to whether Greece can - at the present time - declare the EEZ and whether it includes the entire Greek territory, i.e. from Kastellorizo to Zourafa ("Ladoxera"), if take into account the relevant statements and actions of the head of occupying Turkey.
The EEZ and the problems of demarcation and declaration, the questioning of Greek national sovereignty had and will continue. The intense dispute arose at the northernmost limit of Greek (and European, let's not forget) maritime sovereignty: at Zourafa (Ladoksera). Where for years, as throughout the Thracian Sea but the Thracian hinterland, the Greek presence has been disputed, however, in recent days, Turkey's actions have culminated in a provocative manner, as usual. The presence of the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Greek fishermen remain foci of resistance to the Turkish questioning, but in the historical moment that our country is going through and the challenges for its survival, the consolidation of Greek sovereignty, by any means and means that we have, (and ) in Zurafa, it is an immediate priority.
- Giraffe and history
According to Giorgos Lekakis ("Samothraki - Holy Island"), Zourafa probably owes its name to the word "zoura" (underground, sediment) because the island is also below sea level (Skopelos and volcanic sediment) and word "fa" (faos, light, manifest). That is, it is a volcanic deposit, mainly under the sea, which is also visible.
Metaphorically, the word zoura also means impurity, lera – a concept that also carries sediment – and perhaps with this name there was a desire to attribute the appearance of oil spills in the area.
The island is also called Zgorafa or Sgorafa or Ladoxera or Ladoxira or Ladoxera. The latter names are derived from fishermen, who occasionally find "oil on dry land".
Zourafa, the smallest and most northeastern of the Thracian Sporades (together with Imbros, Tenedos, Samothraki), with an area of nine acres and a coast length of 465 meters, demarcates the Greek territory in the Northeast Aegean. The measurements of the Hydrographic Service of the Navy have been revised downwards due to erosion, since according to more recent calculations, the area of the island is less than one acre and has a shoreline of 32 meters.
Zourfa is 6 nautical miles from the north-eastern tip of Samothrace (Akra Agistro or Skepasto), 22 nautical miles from the Alexandroupolis lighthouse, while the strait between Zourfa and Akra Gremia (Boztepe) has a width of 14 nautical miles.
The map of the famous pirate Piri Reis (1521), does not mark it, but mentions it as "Zurata Kaya": ("The Rock of Giraffe") - and recommends its danger. It is mentioned anonymously by Marco Boschini (1613-1678) and we find it on a map by Lauremberg (1638), Dapper (1688), P. Vander (1729).
In 1809, Choiseul Gouffier marked it on a map with the name "Rocher sur lequel il ya 5 pieds d'eau". Anonymous mentioned by Benoist (1829) and the German archaeologist Alex. Conze, who visited Samothrace at the end of the 19th century, while the first to hydrograph it was the British captain Wharton (of the hydrographic ship "Fown"), in 1880.
Nikolaos Fardys (1853-1901), an important Samothracian with studies in France, in his article in the "Thracian Yearbook" in 1897 ("ZGORAFA AS THE CENTER OF THE EARTHQUAKES OF SAMOTHRACE AND OF FOUR REMAINING ISLANDS OF THE THRACIAN SEA TIMES AGO YOU"), writes among others the following: "The Zgorafa is a three-carved rock reef, only in a calm, and in fact whenever the sea waters withdraw as a result of a north-east wind, they sail past it in sight, very dangerous for sailors, lying in the Thracian coast between the Thracian Peninsula and Samothrace, about six miles distance from Agistrou, a prominent point on the northeastern beach of the island of Samothraki. This reef, in calm weather, is also distinguished by its liquid oily substance, floating on the waters of the sea around it and exhaling an acrid and suffocating smell of oil. It lies geographically on the point where 40° 28' north latitude meets 25° 51' meridian, according to the Table published by Mr. A. Conze, in Reise auf den Jnseln des Thrakischen Meeres. (Hannover, 1860)
This reef first attracted my attention in 1874, when, on board a sailing ship and being near it in calm weather, I was particularly able to see the oily substance floating on the sea, to taste by my own perception and at last I was convinced that it was here about oil, the source of which certainly lies in the body of the reef of this stone".
Fardys adds that "the presence of oil on the Zgorafa reef, the hot mineral waters of Thermae on the island of Samothraki ("The warm waters of the island of Samothraki" by N. V. Fardy, in the "Evro" of Andrianoupolis, July 3, 1896. Year 72, No. XNUMX) and the incessant hypochthonic noise after vibrations against the rather and the severe defeat of this soil testify to the presence of metals in the sterns of this euangelic volume and the incessant volcanic work in it.)".
N. Fardys adopts Pliny's opinion that Zourafa is a remnant of one of the four islands that once existed between Samothraki and the Aenos peninsula.
Another scholar, S.E. Lykoudis writes that the erosive treatment of the sea made Zurafa to have a dimension of 35 meters, whose two extreme heads are dry in calm season and resting places for seagulls.
Georgios Giagakis ("OUR GIRAFFE: Northeast insular outcrop of the country"), reports that "in the edition of the Navigator of 1955, at short distances from Zourafa there are on the West side of "Vrachos" a small height above the surface of the sea, on the South-East of "Vrachos" around the surface of the sea. Already, after the decades that have passed, these rocky island lands have been eliminated, they fell into the category of skopelos or the reef and the highest Zurafa remained.
On the Zurafa, as it was mentioned in earlier texts, "a single danger light with a flashing white light operates. The metal pyramid of the lantern is painted black with a red stripe."
- The Turkish attitude
For many years, Turkey with its attitude has been trying to create facts of questioning the national sovereignty (and ) in Zurafa. Immediately after the invasion of Cyprus in 1974, this policy intensified and there were several incidents of Turkish warships harassing Greek fishermen in Zourafa.
These harassments resulted, after embolisms, in the injury and even death of Greek fishermen. Over time, there has been a gradual increase in the Turkish presence in the region, which, in addition to the navy, is also combined with the presence of Turkish fishermen, who are not bound by the prohibitions of the European Union and thus destroy the marine wealth in various ways. They also violate the territorial waters of Greece, which is distinguishable with the naked eye, both from Alexandroupoli and from Samothraki.
In the last months, Zourafa came to the fore again with the presence of Turkish vessels that carried out surveys in the area, with the presence of warships that take photographs and fishing vessels that operate within Greek territorial waters, with the collapse of the lighthouse, either after human intervention, either due to weather conditions and of course due to the mobility of Turkey in relation to its sovereignty.
- Giraffe, national sovereignty and EEZ
The father of the expansion plan of the "Blue Homeland", Vice-Admiral Tzihat Yaichi, already in 2016 has pointed out that "the island of Zurafa belongs to EGAYDAAK (152 islands and islets claimed by the Turks) and does not belong to Greece".
A few days ago, however, on October 20, Turkey officially announced, internationally and in writing, that the islet of Zurafa is located exclusively within the Istanbul FIR, within which Turkey has exclusive sovereign rights, i.e. Zurafa belongs to Turkish territory/sovereignty. Thus, according to this international, Turkish announcement is an attempt to seize/annex a Greek rock island and illegally incorporate it into Turkish sovereignty/territory.
Turkey announces that from October 30, 2023 to November 2, 2023, it will conduct an operational test of S-400 missiles in cooperation with Turkish F-16 aircraft and UAVs in an area that also occupies the Greek sovereignty of the Zourafa islet and at an altitude of more than 51.000 feet .
The noise created by the Turkish communication about Zurafa must bring back the question of Greek national sovereignty in accordance with the decision of the Allies in San Remo in 1920 regarding the return of the islands and islets of the Northern Aegean to Greece (Imbros, Tenedos, Limnos, Samothraki , Lesvos and adjacent islets and rocky islets that surrounded these five islands)
In addition, from the final form of article 84 of Sevres we can establish that the adjacent islets located beyond three miles from the Turkish coasts passed under the sovereignty of Greece with this general rule, which was transferred as is to the Treaty of Lausanne.
The rocky island of Zourafa, which is located about 6 miles east of Samothraki, also falls into the category of those that were put under consultation by the Allies in the early 1920s and, with the decision of San Remo, were assigned to Greece. The island of "Samothraki" is listed by name in the decision and the rock island "Zourafa" is a "Surrounding islet" of Samothraki, a fact presumed from its geographical position. The Turkish objections are ahistorical, as is the attached map, which presents it with a Turkish name and a Turkish flag, that the issue of the Northern Aegean rock islands was not discussed by the Allies during the period 1919-1923 and was not finally settled in the Treaty of Lausanne.
Zourafa is an important islet that concerns national sovereignty and the Greek EEZ and in fact in an area with specific ramifications regarding national independence. Both at sea and on land.
Initially the understanding about Zurafa and its importance must be done immediately. Zurafa is related to national sovereignty, the EEZ. This is not known and distinct and before another gray zone is created, all those actions foreseen for the area must be done immediately. How many, apart from experts, know of the existence of Zurafa, which is omitted from maps for the general public (school, tourist, etc.), despite the fact that it marks the borders of the Greek and European Territory?
After Kastellorizo, the southern expression of the EEZ, Turkey is reasserting its claims on Zurafa, disputing Greek sovereignty there, since the islet has a central role in delineating the maritime boundary line and delimiting the continental shelf and the EEZ. Our country must defend its sovereignty, on land, air and sea, from Kastelorizo to Zourafa!
BY Theofanis Malkidis
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