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The world is divided into countries. Apparently, every country has
cities, provinces, towns and islands. In the country of Turkey,
there is an island that is not so well known but a historical
island. It is called, Gokceada. Gokceada is the biggest island in
Turkey. As expected, Gokceada is a place surrounded by bodies of
water, particularly seas. It is because, an island is a land
surrounded by bodies of water.
Gokceada is a part of Çanakkale, a province of Turkey. This island
can be visited by traveling northwards from Aegean Sea. For
historical background, the older name of Gokceada was Imbros, a
Greek term.
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Presently, its population
is only 8875, the predominant inhabitants are Turkish, secondly
Greeks. The large numbers of Greeks are immigrants. Fishing and
tourism are the most lucrative industries. Going back in time,
Imbros was a colony of the famous city state of Greece, Athens.
After some centuries, when the Ottoman or Turkish Empire rose to
power, after overcoming the forces of the Byzantine Empire, this
island became part of the new power. That was from the 14th century
AD up to the early 20th century.
Constantinople (Istanbul), the former capital of
Byzantine, became the capital of Ottoman state and its name was
changed from Constantinople to Istanbul. The Ottoman state
government was monarchy guided by Islamic concepts. Its emperors
were called Sultan. The first head was Sultan Osman I, the last
ruler was Sultan Mehmed VI. The Ottoman kingdom extended from the
Middle East to North African nations. The superpowers in Western
Europe like Britain collided with the Ottomans resulting to the
return of Imbros to Greece in 1920 declared in the treaty of Sèvres.
Therefore, in early 1900s, 97 percent of the people in Gokceada were
Greeks.
The Ottoman government signed the treaty of 1920 but did not honor
the deal. That time, the mighty Islamic empire days were numbered,
but the friction between the Greeks and the Turks went on. Aside
from the Greeks, the Ottoman also needed to suppress the revolting
forces of a Turkish nationalist named Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The
latter defeated the last Turk sultan and proclaimed the new
Republic of Turkey. The new Turkey government defeated
the Greeks as well at the battle of Anatolia. The Greeks and Turks
continued having conflict in Imbros. In 1927, the Greek schools were
closed by the Turkish administration. In 1952, the Greeks were
allowed to build new schools but were ordered to be closed in 1964.
The Greek inhabitants exercised the Greek Orthodox Catholic faith
that was suppressed by the Turks in 1943 to the extent of grabbing
the lands that were owned by the monasteries. In 1970s, Greeks
became minority in this island of Gokceada.
Now, Gokceada is one of the happiest places to visit in Turkey. A
famous restaurant there, is the Barba Yorgo's Restaurant. The famous
town in this island is Çınarlı. Catholic visitors in Turkey go to
Gokceada to a place at the western part of this island for the
festival of the Virgin Mary in Dereköy that was called formerly by
the Greeks Shinudy.
The festival is celebrated every 15th of August. Following are other
places that Gokceada presents with pride for foreigners visitors:
Aydıncık/Kefaloz or Kefalos beach good for those who enjoy
windsurfing, Kapıkaya (Stenos) is another beach, Kaşkaval peninsula
for those who enjoy Scuba diving, Kuzulimanı (Haghios Kyrikas) is a
Ferry port having 24-hour ferries going to Gelibolu, Kabatepe which
is another port. Mavikoy/Bluebay, is the first national underwater
park in Turkey. Marmaros beach, is another beach, its attractive
feature is, and it has a small waterfall. Pınarbaşı or Spilya beach,
is the longest and most sandy beach on the island.
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CITIES
